Naruto Muyo!
by puiwaihin
Summary: Naruto in the role of Tenchi. When a Juraiyan princess comes to Konoha things are going to change, for better or for worse. Blended AU. Pairings- It's a Tenchi cross-over, what do you expect?
1. Chapter 1: No Need for Nine Tails

_**Copyright Notice:**_The following is an original fanfiction story. While this is an original story adaptation, the characters in this story and some of the events portrayed are the work of the original authors. Naruto and all the characters originating in Konoha, are the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. Characters from the Tenchi universe are owned by Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi.

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><p><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter One: No Need for Nine Tails<strong>

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><p>Konoha, The Hidden Village of the Leaf. This small bustling town situated deep in one of the great forests of the Land of Fire was home to many secrets. The open secret, known even by most simple villagers in surrounding lands and by enemies of the nation alike, was that Konoha was the home and training grounds for several clans of ninja who operated under the authority of the Land of Fire's Feudal Lord. A far better kept secret, one kept closely guarded under pain of death by all Konoha's inhabitants who knew of it, was that the village was the home of a Demon Fox known as the Nine Tailed Demon, or <em>Kyuubi no Kitsune<em>, trapped within the body of one of the ninja in training. The ninja's name was Naruto Uzumaki, a boy about whom were many secrets. Many of these nobody on the face of the earth, and especially not him, knew.

But they were all about to find out.

"Hey! Sakura-chan, now that we've completed our mission, will you go out with me?" Naruto Uzumaki asked, his wide blue eyes staring hopefully, as he followed a step behind a girl with bright pink hair. Naruto, dressed uncomfortably in a bright orange track suit with blue on the shoulders and white around the collar, was staggering under the weight of a stack of logs he was carrying in two arms.

"No way, Naruto-idiot!" the girl, Sakura, said fiercely as she pounded him on the head with one fist. She paid no attention to him as the heavy logs he was carrying slipped from his grasp and fell onto his toes, causing him to yelp comically in pain and try to rub both his feet and head at the same time. "When we get back to the village, I'm going out with Sasuke-kun! Isn't that right, Sasuke?"

The dark haired boy in white shorts and a hip, dark blue T-shirt rolled his eyes at the girl's antics. His arms were piled with logs as well, one more than the orange wearing ninja was carrying and seven times as many as Sakura, who had one small, thin log tucked under her arms. Sasuke Uchiha, despised these D-Rank missions, but there was no way in hell he was going to let Naruto out-perform him. Even though there were five exact duplicates of Naruto carrying six logs each, Sasuke was secure in the knowledge that he could manage one more than the original "dead last" of their ninja academy graduating class. And Sasuke had not dropped any of the logs on his feet, unlike Naruto. The idiot.

Their ninja trainer, an elite _jounin_, or senior rank ninja, trudged behind them carrying a book held up to his face and reading as they traveled. Kakashi-sensei was almost always immersed in his favorite book series, though that did not make him much less of an effective trainer. He had taken three hopelessly mismatched rookie ninja, or _genin_ as they were referred to in the shinobi world, and managed to turn them into a functional team. Barely functional, but at least when it came right down to it they would stand up for each other and cover for each others' mistakes. They were a far cry from achieving any real semblance of team unity or spirit, to speak nothing of actual synergy, but Kakashi could tell they were just beginning to gel. If nothing were to happen to screw this all up.

Such as the other pair finding out that Naruto had a demon sealed inside of him from birth.

Team Seven, the designation for Kakashi and his rookie team, checked in at the gates of Konoha and unloaded their burden of building materials for the local craftsman who had paid for their mission. The team leader told the team to take the afternoon off while he went to report of the mission success to the Hokage, the head ninja and protector of the entire village, whose authority was only superseded by the Feudal Lord. Kakashi hoped the three rookie ninja would spend the afternoon together, of their own volition.

For once, his hope was nearly realized. Nearly. Sakura mentioned how starving she was, just before the stomachs of the two boy genin produced a rumbling sound from their stomachs that could be heard halfway to the village gates.

"I'm in a mood for teppanyaki. What do you say, Sasuke?" Sakura nearly crooned as she leaned her head over to the boy she had an almost hopeless crush on.

The boy grunted, with a "hnh" sound that was his typical response to anything he felt was a hassle, which represented nearly all human interaction that didn't involve training or completing a mission. But then he changed his mind and shrugged his shoulders. "I could go for some grilled meat." And then a couple of beats later he added, "Wanna join us, dead last?"

"Dead last" was Sasuke's insulting nickname for Naruto, the graduate who scored lowest among the ninja graduates. The term rankled the orange clad ninja, especially because he couldn't deny either that or that Sasuke was the top of the class. But this time, rather than get pissed off and say something rash, the young ninja ignored the jibe and caught hold of the offer and was happy to take his normally truculent teammate up on his offer.

"Well, it's not delicious ramen, but I guess I could go along with you two," he said as he followed behind his teammates with a grin plastered over his face. Naruto loved ramen. LOVED it. But for a chance to spend time with his teammates as equals? He could eat something else, at least just this once.

Sakura looked at Sasuke in consternation. "Sasuke-kun, why did you have to invite the idiot along? I thought it would be good for just us two to go together…"

Sakura received a side glance from the object of her affection and she could see the annoyed look in his eyes. "That idiot," Sasuke began, "did a hundred times more work on our mission than you did today. So, why would I want to spend time just with you?" Sasuke saw the hurt look in Sakura's eyes and walked on for a few more steps. With a sigh, he relented. "But I think it would be good for our teamwork to do some things together."

It was a little uncharacteristic of Sasuke, so it certainly took both Sakura and Naruto by surprise that the prickly loner was making the effort. It was a _nice_ surprise, though, and the spikey-haired blond in the orange track suit was now in an especially spirited mood. He exuberantly bounded down the street to get cleaned up from the mission cutting and carrying the wood. His home was a little farther away from the restaurant they had decided to eat at, so he ran extra fast to try and get there and changed before the other two went in to eat.

Naruto raced back to where they were supposed to all meet in front of the restaurant. It had taken him a little longer than he had expected so he looked around for the rest of Team 7, but neither Sasuke nor Sakura were there.

"Hey, old waiter-guy!" Naruto loudly called out to the man at the door.

The restaurant owner heard the voice, turned around, and stiffened. A look of absolute loathing crossed the man's face and Naruto could see his features tighten. What the boy couldn't see was the scar that ran down from his hip to his knee. It was that scar that had destroyed the man's career as shinobi, a scar he had received in the battle with the Demon Fox, and that was what he was thinking of when he looked at Naruto.

"What the hell do you want, brat?" the man said with an angry voice that Naruto knew all too well.

But he wouldn't let that bother him today. He was having a meal with his team! "I'm looking for my teammates, Sakura-chan and Sasuke…" Naruto checked himself before he almost added the more respectful 'kun' suffix to his rival's name. "We were supposed to meet here for dinner."

"They are already inside," the man informed him.

"Oh, good, then I'll…" Naruto made to enter the restaurant, but the man stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"We don't serve your kind here," the man said menacingly.

Under normal circumstances, Naruto would have just taken the abuse and walked away. In fact, he wouldn't have even tried to go into a restaurant like this in the first place, having learned long ago that this was the sort of reception he would get from most places. But today was different. He was having dinner with his team. So, he argued.

"Look, old waiter-guy, my teammates are waiting on me inside. I'm a shinobi of Konoha like them and we just got back from a mission…"

"You?" the man said with venom, "a shinobi? You're no ninja. You're a…" the thought, choosing his words, "…a freak. You don't belong here. So, get out of here and don't try and come back to my restaurant."

Naruto cringed away from the insult for a moment, but only for a moment. "No way, old man!" he shouted. "I'm going in to see my friends. And one day when I'm Hokage, you're going to regret what you said to me today!" Naruto puffed himself up and prepared to push past the man.

"Hokage? You? Nobody in the village cares about you, why would they make you Hokage? And your 'friends'?" he said, dangling the line out there for Naruto, "They went in without you on purpose. They knew you couldn't come in after them. They just want to watch while you suffer." The restaurant owner got a nasty glint in his eyes and added in a low tone, so that nobody around could hear, "Who would want to be on a team with a demon like you?"

Naruto's eyes opened wide, his heart wanting to deny the man's harsh words. All he wanted was to go in and be acknowledged as a fellow ninja, as a teammate by Sasuke and Sakura; it didn't matter if she called him an idiot, or Sasuke called him dead last. And it wouldn't matter if the whole town mocked and scorned him. If only those two acknowledged him.

But then Naruto caught sight of the restaurant's window and saw his two teammates sitting there at the table. Sakura was laughing, putting her hands on Sasuke. And the Uchiha boy had a slight little smile on his face.

Naruto's shoulders slumped and he turned to walk away.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Night was coming on in Konoha. The wind rustled in the trees around the village. Shadows grew longer and deeper. It was the perfect time for the ANBU, Konoha's elite stealth ninja and loyal forces of the Hokage, to be out protecting the village and watching all the things that needed watching. One of those things, was the container of the Demon Fox, Naruto Uzumaki.<p>

He was sitting alone outside the Ninja Academy grounds on a small tree swing. It was his lonely place, where almost every day for years he had sat waiting for some other kid to come up and want to play with him. It had happened a few times, but each time the child's parents would hastily come and scoop their child up and tell them to never play with "that… boy" again.

It was here in this lonely place that Naruto had discovered that he had another place, all of his own. A place where none of the villagers could reach him with their hurtful stares or cruel words. It was like a small forest, very similar to the one around the Hidden Village of the Leaf, but rather than being a place he could walk out to, it was a place he had to climb inward to reach. Today, as the animal mask wearing ANBU team watched him from afar, they had no way of knowing where Naruto was really going.

If they had known, they might have silently slit his throat.

Within the forest of Naruto's mind, a cheerful place full of birds and sunlight, there was a dark corner of the woods where there were no trees and the lush grass stopped growing. At the center this one spot, surrounded by stone, was a dark cave with an iron door blocking the entryway. Every time he came to visit his own private happy glade, he was inevitably drawn back to this dark spot of his soul. The place he was forbidden to go.

But now something was different. Something had broken in him when he had seen Sakura laughing and Sasuke smiling in that restaurant. His hopes of being acknowledged by his team had gotten him so high, that when he had come crashing down it had been one of the sharpest emotional blows of his life, a life that had no shortage of emotional blows. As he looked upon the iron gate over the cave, he realized that the thing that had given way within him was the secure lock that had been placed on this forbidden area.

Naruto had once told the Hokage, the third person to ever hold that title, of his little place in his mind. Hiruzen Sarutobi was one of the few people in the village Naruto knew actually cared about him. So, when the elderly ninja sternly admonished him not to try to go looking down in that cave, Naruto had listened. Until today.

The gate opened as he approached it. The young ninja, his youthful face marked by six whisker-like lines radiating outward from his nose and mouth area, climbed through hole and downward into the pitch black. Naruto didn't know how long he climbed down, but after a while his eyes adjusted to the blackness and he continued going as the cave sloped sharply downward until at last he came to level surface, way down deep, in his soul's Abyss. Not that he was aware of exactly where he had climbed, but this place felt like his emotions just now.

But then, abruptly, Naruto encountered a wall of stone in front of him. It was odd, this wall, and Naruto frowned at it. He was not expecting to be blocked here; it wasn't a natural part of his little world. As the young shinobi looked, the details of the wall became clearer to him. It was carved in intricate detail, with odd signs that looked similar to chakra seals, but not quite like anything he had seen before. In the center of the design was the form of a massive tree, though not one he had ever seen around Konoha. Naruto reached out to trace the lines. The boy pushed against the wall, wanting to see what lay beyond.

The wall crumbled.

As soon as it did so, Naruto heard the sound of laughter, melodious laughter. It came again. _Menacing_ melodious laughter.

Naruto looked ahead and saw… another wall, with the same tree symbol and even more intricate carvings than the first. But then he saw something else. Something was coming through the stone wall, something like a ghost. With burning red eyes. A ghost, or a demon.

Naruto scrambled back up the way he came, shooting back up through the cave of the Abyss within his mind, back out of the gate. He hurriedly closed it back, and forced the lock back on to it. Then he fled back into conscious thought.

The ANBU watched as the young demon container suddenly jerked, then looked around in fear. One of them smirked. The kid must have had a nightmare. Served him right. Then, with a sigh, the masked ninja followed the boy as he ran off away from the Ninja Academy and the solitary swing that stood outside it.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Naruto's heart was pounding within his chest. Even after two hours, he still felt his pulse racing. But at last he was home and nothing had happened. Nothing had happened, he repeated again to himself for the dozenth time.<p>

"Get a grip on yourself, Naruto!" he scolded himself. "You're a ninja. You aren't afraid of silly dreams or stories about demon foxes." Then with a sigh he went back to—

There was a movement from the corner of his eye. The blond haired demon container spun and flung a kunai, a dagger-like ninja weapon with one long blade, sometimes set between two smaller blades in more exotic designs such as those used by the Fourth Hokage, designed for inflicting greater damage than either shuriken or senbon. He hit his mark, which was not surprising at this range even for him. Unfortunately, his mark just happened to be just a spot on his wall. "Oh man," Naruto said to himself, shaking his head while he pulled the weapon out of the cheap plaster. "The landlady is gonna make me pay for that. She'll have the whole wall redone now." He grumbled as he examined the damage.

"I don't know," a voice said from behind him. "I kind of like it better that way."

Naruto spun around with his eyes wide. Sitting on his old wooden dresser was a woman dressed from head to toe in a flowing silver robe that was beautifully trimmed in traditional designs with shades of blue. She had long, beautiful gray hair that flowed out from her head in thick spikes, stretching as far down as her back in places. But what really caught Naruto's attention were her eyes. She had eyes that were burning red. Exactly like the eyes of the demon in his dream. At least, he hoped it had been a dream.

"I've been trapped," she was saying quietly, in a sad voice that had the young ninja pitying her. "Trapped in a dark, dark place for so long I can't even remember."

It sounded a lot like how he felt most of the time. Naruto stood there, frozen in place before managing to get out a response, "Oh, um, I'm really sorry for what happened to you..."

The sad voice was suddenly gone. "I don't want sorry, brat!" she yelled, going from calmly sitting on his dresser to flying across the room towards him in an instant. "I want REVENGE!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Demons in his soul he didn't know what to do about. Sad, hurt looking women in revealing clothes sitting on his dresser talking about how hard their experience has been he didn't know what to do about. Crazy people jumping after him wanting revenge? That he knew how to handle.

Naruto flung two more kunai straight at her and rolled around to the right to get a better attack angle. He watched in surprise, though as the twin blades passed right through her. His eyes went wider when her hand suddenly exploded in a strange power and a rod of glowing red energy formed in her hands and lengthened out to the size of a katana. He blocked it with another kunai pulled rapidly from one of the pouches in his track suit, but to his dismay, the energy blade sliced through his weapon almost as if he didn't have one at all. And then she formed a ball of power in her hand.

Naruto did the only thing he could think of. He jumped out the window of his house, four stories above ground level. He was glad he did when his entire apartment erupted in massive flames, exploding out into the street. The blond haired ninja landed on his feet and tucked into a roll to absorb the force of the impact. He fluidly pulled out of the roll and turned to look at the damage done to the building.

"Oh man. I'm never paying the landlady back for this. I'll end up being her slave."

Naruto wondered about the feeling of power that radiated from the crazy demon lady who had just blown up his apartment. It wasn't like any other chakra he had ever felt before. It somehow felt… raw. Rather than being unnatural, it was as if it was even more natural than what he and other ninjas used for their ninjutsu techniques. And it was frighteningly both in power and in the emotional feel. It felt like the killer intent of high level ninja, but only more intense and much wilder.

Naruto watched in surprise as the woman from his apartment floated out from the burning room, looking around outside before seeing him. The young ninja watched as the strange gray-haired woman flew towards him, brandishing her energy blade with a loud roar. She was flying towards him fast. Too fast.

The woman's energy beam pierced right through the spikey-blond haired ninja. The woman blinked for a second as she stood there with the weapon through Naruto's chest. "Huh, I thought you would have tried to dodge or something," she muttered in frank surprise.

That was when the image of the young ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke and revealed that the angry woman had pierced an over-sized piece of wood. The woman's face twisted into a bewildered expression for a moment, before the expression quickly turned to one of pain.

A pair of shuriken struck her from behind.

"No way I'm dying against a stupid old granny-demon like you!" came a brash voice shouting from behind her. "Now get ready for me to kick your a..." The boy blinked for a second as he looked at the woman's rear. "You have a tail."

"Of course I have a tail, you little punk! But never mind that. Who are you calling old?" Fire literally burst from her eyes as she clenched her hands angrily in a fist. "I'm a beautiful woman, how dare you!"

And then the woman was charging at Naruto, no longer holding an energy blade, but with fists that glowed with a gold and reddish aura blended together. The ninja smirked and yelled out the words of his favorite technique.

"_Kage bunshin no jutsu_!"

A hundred copies of Naruto, shadow clones, immediately filled the street and charged from all directions right back at the flying woman. Each clone looked exactly like the teenage shinobi and fought with his exact same strength and skill. Which, unfortunately for him, was only at best average for the typical Konoha ninja his age. But at least they were faster than most ninja, and in great numbers could overwhelm a low to mid-level opponent.

"Oh, how shameful. A powerful ninja like you attacking little old me, a hundred against one? What kind of gentleman would do a thing like that?" she asked as she put one hand on her cheek in a mock affectation of a damsel in distress. But as the first of the clones approached, each now with a confused look in their eyes, the fake pout turned into a snarl.

"HA!" she cried out, releasing of burst of energy all around her that radiated outward as a visible bubble of chakra.

The clones nearest her exploded into clouds of nothing as the energy struck them. Then the woman went on a tear, smashing her fists through shadow clones all around her. The battle between her and the clones was over in seconds, with all the clones dispelled and not a single hit on the angry woman.

"Now, let's see how the real you likes a taste of that!" the woman said, still snarling.

There was a sudden motion, and a pair of masked ANBU ninja charged out of their hiding places to intercept the mad woman, dashing towards her from two different directions. Each wore a white porcelain mask of an animal. That was, they wore them until the woman smashed her fist through the masks and bloodied their faces. The two special shinobi were sent flying back down to the ground in a heap.

"That's what you get for interfering in a woman's revenge!" she yelled. Then she turned back to face Naruto once more. Only the ninja in the orange jumper was no longer there. "Hey, where'd you go?" she yelled angrily.

"Over here, stupid granny demon!" Naruto said from behind her holding several large shuriken in his hands.

She turned with a smirk. She watched as he threw them all simultaneously only to see them all fly wide, below, or above her. She didn't even make a move to block. She started to laugh when she heard a "_poof_" sound from all around her, and she was suddenly being held by her arms and legs and had a kunai to her throat from behind.

The woman laughed. It was the same menacing laugh Naruto had heard before when he had smashed that wall within the cave. The five Naruto clones turned their heads towards the woman with a questioning look, wondering what would make her laugh that way. But then the strange woman seemed to fade away, leaving the five clones holding nothing. Just as suddenly, though, she was back and all five were instantly destroyed by movement the rookie ninja could barely even see.

"Do you really think a trick like that could beat me?" she growled out. "Do you know who I am, kid?"

Naruto glared at her from his position fifteen feet away. "Sure I do. You're that stupid demon fox that attacked my village when I was born. You're the reason everyone hates me. Old granny demon!" he snarled.

The woman's laugh died and her eyes took on a dangerous glint. "I have a name, you know."

Naruto's glare didn't ease up in the least. "Yeah, you're the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_."

"A beautiful Nine-Tailed Demon Fox is _what_ I am. It's not my name."

Naruto waited, his body tense.

"Ryoko," she said. "That's my name."

"Ryoko?" Naruto said, his mouth twisting into a frown. "But why do they call you a 'nine-tailed demon fox?" he asked quizzically.

Her expression turned dubious, and slightly angry. "Because I'm a demon and I have nine tails of course!" she shouted. "See?"

She turned her body to show him, but then her eyes suddenly went completely wide. Waving behind her was a single red tail.

"HEY! Where are the rest of my tails!" she yelled again, her voice suddenly turning fierce again. "Give me the rest of my tails, you brat!" She floated down to the ground and stalked towards him with a furious expression.

Naruto clenched his fists together and stood his ground. "No way! I'm not giving you anything, stupid fox. I'm here to protect my village and I'll never let you destroy it!"

Ryoko, the currently one-tailed demon fox walked directly up to Naruto's face and stopped, glaring at him. Lightning flashed between their eyes, as the glaring match continued for several tense seconds. Until…

Ryoko's shoulders slumped. "Oh well. You win. Guess I'll go back to sleep alone in my cave."

And then she faded from sight, leaving the yellow haired boy with whisker marks on his face to stand there scratching his head.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>The Third Hokage had watched all the events that had taken place transpire through a crystal ball on his desk. As soon as the ANBU had relayed the message of the disturbance, Hiruzen Sarutobi had dispatched a full squad to set up a perimeter around the area and monitored the situation. A smile played over his face as he watched the boy face down the demon that was still, for the most part, sealed inside him and bravely show his allegiance to Konoha.<p>

The boy had the Will of Fire running strongly through him, despite all the ill so many of the village's inhabitants had wrongly done to him. And the village leader was pleased that so many of his trusted shinobi would be able to see him defend the village, to finally see the role the boy had silently been playing his entire life without complaint.

Sarutobi had hoped that he would never again see the face of that demon woman, but some things were just too much to be hoped for. Now that she had gained some measure of freedom from Naruto, they were all going to have to be much, much more careful. There was no telling how much trouble the demon would cause the village, even with only one tail. But at least through Naruto they could exercise a measure of control.

The old Hokage sighed. He was getting too old for this.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Once the ANBU had grilled the boy about what had happened inside his apartment for an hour, Naruto was finally directed to a new apartment where he could stay at least for the night. The boy thought it might have been his imagination, but it seemed the mostly silent, black robed ninja in the funny masks were actually friendlier to him than before. Which didn't make sense at all, because he had just been in a major incident involving a demon fox and an exploding apartment and all. He scratched his head.<p>

He was going to have to thank the old man Hokage for settling things with his old landlady. He had been reassured that he wouldn't end up a slave to the old hag and that his rent would be paid for until this could all be straightened out, _without_ him having to dip into his old frog money purse to pay for this.

Naruto slipped out of his orange track suit, one of the three identical outfits he owned, and turned off the light. He'd get up in the morning and meet up with his team for some training, or maybe even a mission. Too bad he couldn't tell them about how he'd kicked the ass of that stupid demon fox. That was an A-Class secret.

Thinking of the demon fox, Ryoko, he had to admit that she wasn't bad looking. Even if she was totally psychotic and an evil demon and all.

Naruto _tsked_ at himself for the thought and slipped underneath the covers. He rolled over, trying to get the thought from his head when he felt something beside him. Something warm and soft. Something shaped like a woman.

Naruto ever so carefully pulled back the covers and flipped on the lamp by his bed.

"Hello, Naruto" Ryoko's voice purred to him from his pillow. "Come back to bed."

Naruto's frightened yell rang out, loud enough to be heard all the way to the Hokage Tower.

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Thanks to zmanjz for alerting me to an inaccuracy in describing kunai. I was mistakenly describing a special variation (used by the Fourth) rather than the typical one which Naruto would be using._


	2. Chapter 2: No Need for Chakra

**Chapter 2: No Need for Chakra**

The birds were chirping outside. The sun was shining in through the window. Naruto Uzumaki rolled over on his mattress and opened his eyes, his mouth gaping wide in a gigantic yawn.

"Good morning, lover," purred a voice behind him from the spot he had just vacated.

Naruto scrambled to his feet out of the bed, the covers falling off him comically as he pointed at the woman in his room lying down with her head on his pillow clothed in a very revealing outfit.

"You! You're the _Kyuubi_!"

"I thought we covered all of that last night, Naruto-_kun_," the woman with gray hair said teasingly, disappearing momentarily to appear again, standing up in mid-air. "But please, call me Ryoko-chan. After all, we are lovers now."

"WHAAAT!" Naruto literally screamed, his mouth going completely wide. "No way did I do anything with a stupid fox like you! I hate you!"

Ryoko frowned, her single red tail drooping behind her. "You don't really mean that do you?" She sounded sincerely hurt. "Naruto-kun?" Her eyes grew big, round, and vulnerable.

Naruto saw the genuine pain in her expression and he instantly felt a pang of sympathy for her. He knew what it was like to be hated and scorned. It just wasn't in his character to pass that feeling on to anyone else. Nine-tailed demon fox or not, she was someone with feelings. He let his accusing finger drop and his face that had been a mask of anger and outrage a moment ago became confused and uncertain.

"Well, maybe I don't completely hate you, but I can't forgive you for screwing up my whole life." Naruto frowned and stared at the demon fox standing in front of him before the angry look and pointing look returned, his expression seeming as if he had just figured something out. "And you tried to kill me last night!"

"Kill you?" Ryoko said, her facial features suddenly taking on an innocent expression. "Oh no, dear, I could never kill **you**. I was just playing around with you last night."

"You call blowing up my entire apartment playing around?"

The fox demon snorted. "Apartment? Looked like a rat trap to me. I can't imagine why you would choose to live there."

Naruto bowed his head. For just a moment he felt a little shame. "It's the best place I can stay." It was the truth. His previous apartment was in the oldest housing building in the village where only the poorest and most desperate villagers lived. While Naruto's pre-graduation monthly allowance would have allowed him to live somewhere nicer before and his pay from the D-rank missions his team had completed would easily be enough to maintain a better residence, no landlord who owned any better property would have him.

"See, I did you a favor," Ryoko said, pointing to Naruto's new place.

"Hnh," Naruto said, crossing his arms in his best imitation of his teammate Sasuke. "Next time, don't do me any more favors."

Before anything further could be said, there came a knock at the door. Naruto walked over to it, wondering who it could possibly be, scratching the back of his head. He opened the door to reveal a pair of ninja in black cloaks wearing white, porcelain animal masks.

"Oh, hi there, ANBU-san!" Naruto said a little too loudly.

"Naruto, we're here to escort you to the Hokage. We…" the ninja froze in mid-sentence as soon as he saw Ryoko floating there in mid-air behind the blond _genin_.

Instantly, the demon fox was by Naruto's side. Hugging him.

"Oh, but Naruto-kun and I have just spent our first night together as lovers. Don't we deserve a long honeymoon?" she crooned.

The ANBU who had been speaking spluttered.

"WAH! Get off me!" Hastily Naruto turned to the two special ninja. The blond headed rookie was shaking his hands and head in protest. "It's not like that!" He spun back to Ryoko pointing, then looked back to the ANBU ninja and then back to Ryoko again. "She… she…she!"

"Come on, Naruto, don't be shy. We slept together last night, don't you remember?" she teased him with a devilish smile on her lips, all the while trying to press her curved body against him, wrapping herself around his extended arm and shoulder.

The second ninja, wearing a tiger mask, shrugged his shoulders. "Regardless, it is our duty to escort Naruto to the Hokage. Please do not resist us or we will have to use force to carry out our duties."

Ryoko faded away from around the struggling Naruto and was instantly in the ninja's face. The playful face she had just worn was now replaced with a menacing glare. "That didn't work so well for you guys last night, did it? What makes you think you would do any better?"

The tiger mask ninja did not back down, though his partner visibly took a step back from the demon fox woman floating in front of them.

"The shinobi watching Naruto last night were stealth and pursuit specialists. Elite ninja in their own way, but not the best this village has to offer for battle. As long as your power is restrained by the Fourth Hokage's seal, you will be no match for the most powerful shinobi in our village, make no mistake of that," the tiger masked ANBU member said calmly.

"Oh, yeah? You ready to see about that?" Ryoko growled, her face showing a pair of vicious fangs.

"Ryoko, stop!" Naruto yelled at her.

Surprisingly, the demon fox froze in place. She turned to the young, blond haired ninja beside her, looked at him for a second, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, Naruto. If you say so."

The first ANBU, one with an eagle mask, visibly relaxed. "Then we will take you to the Hokage. It will be best if the _Kyuubi_… er…"

Ryoko sighed. "I'll see you there, Naruto-kun." Then she disappeared, fading out of sight to the surprise of all three.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>"Are you telling me the demon fox backed down when Naruto spoke to it?" Lord Sarutobi asked of the special ninja kneeling before him.<p>

"Yes, Hokage-sama. It appeared to freeze in place, as if under a _jutsu_ before seemingly choosing not to engage us."

The Third Hokage nodded as he smoked his pipe thoughtfully. "Thank you, Yenma. Please have Naruto sent in after you leave."

It seemed that Naruto could already exert some measure of control over the Nine-tails even without any instruction in summoning techniques. _Jutsus_, or ninja techniques, typically required very specific instruction and understanding to be able to be used effectively. Summonings, for example, required the summoning ninja to exert their will over the summoned creature, with the more powerful the summon requiring even greater willpower and more constant effort to maintain control. It helped to maintain a positive relationship with the summoned creature so that it would obey without requiring as much mental attention, but that did not eliminate the need for the training. But if Naruto could already exert control over the _Kyuubi_ through his seal, it would make this much easier and much less dangerous for the village.

"Hey, Old Man!" Naruto greeted the Third Hokage, the undisputed most powerful ninja in the village.

"Naruto Uzumaki! You will treat the Hokage with respect! My apologies Lord-"

Sarutobi waved it away. "It is fine, Yenma. Please, Naruto, come in."

The ANBU member was stunned. As one of the ninja serving as personal agents of the Hokage, the tiger masked shinobi had had the opportunity to observe many people deal with the leader of Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi was very conscious of the importance of the prestige of his office and rarely allowed anyone to address him disrespectfully. Yenma could count on one hand the number of people who were allowed to speak to him informally while he sat at his desk in his robes of office, and now the ANBU could count on one finger the people who could actually speak to the Hokage insultingly without consequence.

With the door shut, Naruto came to stand in front of the village leader with a broad grin on his face. He stood there for a second. Then a minute. Then the grin slowly faded from his face as he started to get that the Hokage was in a serious mood.

"Naruto, do you remember when Mizuki told you about the fox that was trapped inside of you?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Naruto responded, matching the man's serious tone and using a respectful tone of voice and term of address. Being reminded of that incident was one of the few things someone could say, other than "I'll buy you a bowl of ramen" that would make Naruto turn serious. The traitor Mizuki had informed Naruto that he contained the demon fox and that was why the village hated him. His academy instructor had nearly died trying to protect him. It was one of the pivotal moments in Naruto's life.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew how deeply this had affected the young ninja, and was extremely proud of how he had responded. "It is a grave responsibility to hold that fox within you. But, unfortunately, with last night's events…"

"I know, Hokage-sama, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let her out." Then Naruto explained what had happened, talked about how he had gone to the cave within his own soul and found the way open. He mentioned the wall he encountered and the writing on it. "I didn't mean to break it like that, I just touched it. I know I wanted to see what was past the wall, but honest, I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright, Naruto. I believe you. And you did a good thing defending the village from the _Kyuubi__'__s_ attack," the Hokage added, puffing on his pipe. "Naruto, there is something important you need to learn. Your duty in controlling the Nine-tailed fox has not ended. It has only just become more important…"

Naruto's face suddenly went white. Ryoko, the _Kyuubi__no__Kitsune_ or Nine-tailed demon fox, had appeared directly behind the Hokage with eyes that looked like they were on fire, mouth open in snarl, eyes red with malevolence. She appeared ready to pounce on the old ninja. Naruto was about to call out a warning when…

"Hello, Ryoko," the Hokage said with a sigh.

Ryoko got a disappointed look on her face, instantly stopping her attempt to attack. "Never could sneak up on you, Hiruzen," she said with a sigh.

"Your chakra is not easy to miss, Nine-tails," the Hokage said with a hint of ice in his tone.

"Oh, Hiruzen-chan," Ryoko said, putting her hands on the older man's shoulders. "Such a cold response from you. After all we meant to each other," she said pouting.

Naruto looked from Ryoko to the Hokage with shock written all over his face. The Demon Fox and the Hokage?

In less than the blink of an eye The Third was standing directly behind Ryoko. Naruto never saw him move. By the surprise on Ryoko's face, she hadn't either. The Hokage's expression was severe.

"Do you think I have forgotten what you did thirteen years ago? Do you think I have forgiven you? That any of us have?" Ryoko faded away and reappeared above the Hokage's desk. Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "Do not imagine that you are welcome in this village, demon. For the deaths you caused as you laughed heartlessly, I should destroy you a thousand times. But for Naruto's sake, and only for his sake, I will forebear."

Naruto had never heard such venom from the old man. He had always treated Naruto kindly and had never made him feel scared or uncomfortable. The Hokage could be stern at times, but Naruto understood that it was a sternness of a parent caring for a child, despite the fact that the Hokage was not related to him by blood. But for once, he saw the same hate in the leader of Konoha's eyes as Naruto saw daily from the rest of the villagers. Hiruzen Sarutobi hated the _Kyuubi_ as much as anyone in Konoha. The big difference, Naruto now realized, was not that the village leader didn't have angry feelings, it was that the Hokage did not blame him for what the demon had done, placing all of his hatred on the demon itself.

"You think I'm afraid of you, old man?" Ryoko snarled.

The Hokage suddenly turned his attention back to Naruto, completely ignoring the demon fox. "Naruto, would you like to learn a new _jutsu_?"

"Really? A new _jutsu_ from you! Of course! What is it? Some kind of kick-ass fire technique?" Naruto virtually bounced around the room whooping and pumping his fist.

"Hey! Don't think you can ignore me!" Ryoko said with a glare.

"Now, watch carefully, Naruto. This is a complicated technique requiring over sixty seals." The Hokage immediately began forming the hand seals in slow motion. The Hokage called the names of each of the twelve common _jutsu_ hand signs as he made the seal.

"Rat. Ox. Hare. Tiger. Dragon. Snake. Horse. Ram. Monkey. Bird. Dog. Boar."

But surprisingly, following that he added an elemental hand sign as he said "lightning" followed by a repeat of the previous sequence of normal hand seals. At the end of the cycle, Sarutobi then added another elemental sign "water" and then the same sequence followed by "wood" then through once more followed by "fire" and then a final time with the "earth" element sign.

Even Ryoko was looking at the complicated technique with interest.

"As you make each of these seals, you need to focus on pulling your chakra into yourself and holding it in tightly. Now, you try it, Naruto."

The orange clad ninja got a look of extreme concentration on his face and began making each of the hand signs. Blue chakra began swirling around him, forming a visible vortex flowing into each of his main chakra gates. As Naruto signed and continued to chant, the blue chakra was joined by a swirl of red chakra.

Just as Naruto neared the end of the final series of hand seals, the Hokage added, "As soon as you complete the fifth element, clap your hands together and say, "Seal."

Naruto completed the final series, his face a mask of determination. Ryoko suddenly looked up in alarm. "Now, wait just a min—"

"SEAL!"

A massive swirl of chakra was sucked back into Naruto. Ryoko gave a short, angry shriek and then disappeared. The blond ninja looked around in surprise.

"Hey? Where's the fire or the tornado? Did I get it wrong?" Naruto's head turned every which way looking for the effect he didn't see.

"No, Naruto, you did exceptionally well for this being your first attempt. You managed to seal off all of your chakra," the Hokage said approvingly. "I'd guess for at least twenty four hours."

"WHAT? I sealed off my chakra for twenty four hours! What kind of a stupid technique is that?"

Lord Sarutobi chuckled. "Not usually the first one you would think to use in a battle. But it can be a useful technique in certain situations, such as if an opponent uses a chakra draining technique, or to defend against a chakra poisoning _jutsu_." Naruto didn't look convinced. "But most importantly, it's a powerful trump card you can use to prevent the _Kyuubi_ from being able to manifest in the physical world."

"Hey, you're right! I guess it did take care of that stupid fox."

"Now, Naruto, there are some important things about the demon fox inside of you that we need to discuss. Now that the first seal on her prison has been released she will be able to manifest near you. While this is certainly not desirable and is sure to be troubling for many reasons, there are some potential benefits."

"Benefits? Like what?" Naruto asked. "What good can come from a demon fox like that?"

"Well, first of all, as long as the _Kyuubi_ is sealed within you, she cannot do you any harm. She cannot even do so accidentally. The only way she could harm or influence you would be if you allowed her to."

"Why would I want to let her do that?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his head.

The Hokage smiled. "Exactly. Unfortunately, you are the only one protected by the seal. As long as she manifests outside of the seal she can harm anyone else she wants." The Hokage paused, letting the information sink in. "Anyone around you would be in danger. For example, your teammates..."

Narutos eyes went wide. Then a look of fierce determination replaced the wide-eyed look. "No way will I let her hurt Sakura. Or even Sasuke, even if he is a big jerk."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled. "That is exactly why **you** are the container for the Nine-tailed fox. Out of all the ninja in the village, when it comes to sheer determination, you are easily the strongest. And because of that, the entire village will be safe."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with a puzzled expression.

"Just what I said Naruto. As long as she is sealed within you, you can prevent the demon from doing any harm, even if she is manifesting outside of you as she did last night. But it will take strong will and a lot of concentration to ensure everyone's safety. If you slip for even just a little bit, the demon's power will be free."

Naruto nodded, taking this responsibility soberly and seriously.

"Now, there are some things I want to teach that will help you in your duty," the Hokage said, and Naruto drew in closer, eager for instruction.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>"You're late!" Sakura shouted, pointing an accusing finger in the direction of Team 7's leader. It didn't have same emotional effect as when the accusation was delivered in stereo with Naruto. Sasuke even looked over; noticing the difference, only to frown when he realized for the change was the fact that Naruto was not present.<p>

"Well you see, on my way over here, there was a cart of flowers that got knocked over, followed by a sudden gust of wind which blew them every which way," Kakashi began explaining. "The look on the flower seller's face was so sad that I just had to help retrieve every last petal. After which I got caught up in the currents of life and..."

"LIAR!" Sakura shouted. But again, without Naruto there to join in, it lacked its usual volume and energy.

There was a sudden blur of orange and a familiar figure dressed in an orange track suit came to a stop. "Hey everybody!" Naruto called out.

Sasuke turned away from him, as did Sakura.

Kakashi, however, wheeled on the youth and pointed an accusing finger at the _genin_. "You're late!"

"Hey, come on! Last night my apartment got blown up, and this morning I was having special training with Old Man Hokage. Afterwards I needed to get my equipment, so I had to go back by my new apartment, which is the opposite direction from the training ground." Naruto said defending himself.

Sakura turned back around and scowled at Naruto. "Gee, Naruto, if you're going to make an excuse for yourself at least put more imagination in to it than that. At least Kakashi-sensei's excuse isn't so easy to be refuted."

"But, Sakura-chan! I—"

"And don't call me 'Sakura-chan'. After you stood me and Sasuke-kun up last night at the teppenyaki restaurant, it's clear you don't care about your teammates!" Sakura hmphed and flounced back away. "But at least I had a good time with Sasuke-kun last night."

"But, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, his face scrunching up into a scowl, "I didn't try to stand you two up! I went to the restaurant, but the old waiter guy wouldn't let me in."

Kakashi watched the interplay between the two with some interest. He was curious how his rookie squad had spent their off time. He, of course, had been informed of Naruto's changed situation in regards to his tenant and wouldn't be punishing his student for showing up late (even if he were so inclined), but he hadn't heard about the team's planned meal together. It would have been a first.

Sakura's expression darkened. "Don't lie, Naruto. I asked the restaurant owner if he saw a blond haired idiot dressed in orange, and he said he'd been at the door the whole time and never saw anyone that looked like you."

Naruto's face darkened. "The old waiter guy said that?" Then he tilted his head downward as realization struck him. "So, he probably lied about what he said about the two you, too."

"Come off it. Just—" Sakura began, but Kakashi cut her off.

"I think I'll go have a little talk with that restaurant owner. Which restaurant was it?" he asked in a low, even tone. There was no threat or anger in the statement, but the three genin knew what Kakashi sounded like when he was serious.

Sakura blinked several times, looking over at her _jounin_ instructor. Sasuke turned and gave the senior ninja an appraising look, then turned to look over at Naruto for the first time since the blond had showed up. The pair realized that if Kakashi thought Naruto's story had merit, they should probably give their teammate the benefit of the doubt as well. But that made them wonder why he wouldn't be allowed into a place to eat. He was a ninja of the Leaf, after all, even if he was the dead last and an idiot.

The three walked in silence next to their instructor, mulling over the questions in their minds until they came to a section of tall trees. Kakashi gave them a smile that was mostly hidden behind the grey mask that always covered his face. "Today, we're going to have special training..."

"Teamwork exercises," Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke responded in chorus.

Kakashi grinned inwardly, though his face remained impassive. Their response was probably the most in-synch thing they had ever done. D-rank missions and the training he had forced on them had served to build a commonality between them that they didn't realize was there. But it was, and it gave their teacher reason to be pleased.

"Actually... no," Kakashi contradicted them. The surprise on the team's face was visible. In two months of missions and training, every lesson they had been given had been on teamwork. "Today, we'll be working on chakra control exercises."

Kakashi had Sakura, she being the most gifted of the three rookie ninjas academically, explain how chakra worked. Naruto closed his eyes and nodded as if in understanding while the pink haired girl talked about how spiritual power was mixed with physical to create a flow of energy. Their sensei then explained that while they had all learned to use this power, they were far from having mastered control of it. For that, he had a special training for them.

"Climbing trees."

"Climbing trees?" Sakura and Naruto asked in unison. The young, black haired ninja just looked annoyed. Sasuke Uchiha considered such exclamations demeaning, though that was exactly how he was feeling as well.

"Ah, but there is one important detail that makes this excellent training for young ninja. You won't be using your hands."

And with that, Kakashi demonstrated how to walk up the surface of a tree by channeling chakra to the soles of the feet. The elite ninja explained that as the tips of the feet were the most difficult point to direct chakra, if they were to master this they would have a good chance of having the control needed to master any technique. He said this while hanging upside-down from a tree-branch with only the chakra on the bottom of his feet holding him up.

"Alright! I'll have this mastered in no time!" Naruto shouted.

Three kunai dug into the ground near each of their feet. Kakashi explained that the ninja weapons were for them to mark their progress as they got higher up the trees. Each of the three genin picked up a kunai. Naruto and Sasuke were the first to make an attempt, charging at the nearest tree with confidence.

Sasuke only made it a few meters up the tree before he exerted too much chakra and blasted the bark off, sending him tumbling backwards after he made a mark in the tree. Naruto did not even get that far. The moment his feet touched the tree he fell down and bumped his head on the ground. Sakura observed her two teammates first, and then made her own attempt. She got to a high branch on her very first try.

Naruto and Sasuke both made second attempts. Sasuke managed to get a step higher than he had before, making a mark on the tree a few inches above the first he had made. Naruto, however, met the exact same result as his first attempt.

"Come on, dead last, even you can do better than that," Sasuke teased.

Kakashi frowned. He had expected Naruto to have some trouble, but the energetic ninja should have been able to at least make it a couple steps up the tree before either cutting off too much chakra or, more likely, using too much.

"Naruto, you need to let your chakra flow out through the soles of your feet," Kakashi instructed as Naruto prepared to make one more attempt.

Naruto charged forward a halfway before coming to a complete stop. Then he turned around, rubbed the back of his neck, and put a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, I forgot. I sort of sealed up all my chakra for 24 hours while I was meeting with the Hokage."

Kakashi sighed. "Well, then come on," the _jounin_ said resignedly. He had hoped this exercise would occupy all of their time while he sat back and read more of his favorite book series. He hated to put it down, even on a tenth read through. "I'll work with you some on your _taijutsu_ until you are able to mold chakra again." Without available chakra, there weren't any useful, yet time consuming exercises that he could think to assign. Kakashi would just have to put off his reading until Naruto's chakra was unsealed.

"All right! After this I'll really be able to kick Sasuke's ass!"

Sasuke Uchiha gave him a slightly annoyed look and took another run at the tree.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I originally planned for this chapter to include the introduction of more Tenchi characters, but found that it was already fairly close to what I plan to be a normal chapter length. So, rather than making an extra long chapter and delaying releasing chapter 2 for another few days or even a week, I decided to go ahead and publish what I've already done. There will be a lot more Tenchi related content beyond just Kyuubi Ryoko, starting with chapter 3. Believe it!_

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><p>.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: No Need for Mercy

_**Author's Note:** Originally, there was another scene at the start of this story showing Sarutobi receiving a special message and then summoning Kakashi. However, the file with that part of this chapter was overwritten, and I didn't want to go back and try to rewrite it again. So, just imagine that there's a scene where an ANBU delivers a message to the Hokage that arrived by hawk, Sarutobi sighing, and then sending for Kakashi._

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><p><strong><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: No Need for Mercy<strong>

"Hey! Old man! Why are you calling us in for a mission so early in the morning? We were in the middle of training and I was just about to kick Sasuke the jerk's ass!" Naruto shouted as he entered the Hokage's office along with the rest of Team 7.

Kakashi looked embarrassed, a drop of sweat forming on his forehead. Sakura Hirano was clenching her fist and raising it at Naruto threateningly, shouting about how Naruto would never be able to beat a genius like Sasuke. The Hokage was smiling, always amused by Naruto's good-natured irreverence. Well, almost always amused. And Sasuke Uchiha was standing with his arms crossed looking the opposite direction of his loud-mouthed teammate while rolling his eyes.

Inwardly, however, Sasuke was considering Naruto's improvement since Kakashi had begun training them in chakra control and _taijutsu_. Naruto had always been a wildcard, capable of surprising anyone with an unexpectedly unconventional move, but as his chakra control and basic fighting style improved, the boy was becoming more and more difficult to defeat and landing more and more hits on his teammate. He was beginning to grudgingly respect the Academy's "dead last" student.

Kakashi Hatake had already been briefed on the mission after the ANBU messenger had shown up and escorted him to the Hokage Tower. The Hokage had not wanted to wait for the elite _jounin_-instructor to arrive a couple hours later this time. As skilled as the "copy ninja" was, he had taken on a life philosophy that emphasized enjoying the moment and not rushing things. Arriving late all the time was a by-product of that. While Sarutobi understood this and tolerated it at times, this was not one of those times.

"I called you all here early because you are receiving a special B-rank mission and will need time to prepare so that you can set out today. Usually, _genin_ are only assigned D-rank and some C-rank missions. However, due to the special circumstances of this assignment, I am forced to send your team. You will—"

"Alright! Wait until Kiba hears about this! He's going to be so jealous!" Naruto whooped. "So what are we going to be doing? Bringing back a badass missing ninja?"

The Hokage sighed. Best to let this play out a bit before trying to head the hyperactive teenager off. So, he just answered the questions.

"No."

"Discovering an ancient treasure buried in a tomb filled with death traps?"

"No."

"Kidnapping and impersonating an enemy ninja ballerina troupe?"

"What? And… no."

"Spying on a secret base in the Land of Rock?"

"No."

"Escorting a princess?"

"N—Yes."

"Alright! I knew it! This is going to be awesome!"

"Naruto," the Hokage tried to break in while Naruto was doing a dance around the room. "Naruto!" The blond haired ninja stopped, one foot in the air and one arm still swinging. A split second later, the boy was back beside his teacher trying to do an imitation of a calm, collected ninja.

"Your mission is to travel to Wave Country and meet up with representatives of the distant land of Jurai. You will then escort this representative, a princess of the Jurai royal house, to Konoha. Wave Country is very near the Land of Fire and is an allied nation, so it is not expected that you will encounter any enemy ninja. However, this princess is a _very_ important person, and so her safety rates a B-rank mission and the best behavior of all of our ninja."

For once, Sakura spoke up. "Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but I am a bit confused. Jurai? I have never heard of it. And not that I'm not grateful, but why us? If this princess is so important, then why not send a more experienced team?"

"Sakura, do not question Lord Hokage's decisions. It is not your place," Kakashi scolded.

"It's alright, Kakashi. I do not believe she is questioning my decision, merely trying to understand it," Sarutobi said with a smile, setting the apprehensive female ninja at ease. "Jurai is a great nation far across the ocean. Because of its great distance we rarely have any communication with them. However, they have from time to time sent emissaries to our lands. The last time this happened, to my knowledge, was shortly before the First Shinobi War."

Sakura let out a slight gasp. That _was_ a long time ago.

"As for my reasons for sending your group instead of another team… I'm afraid I am not going to answer that. You do not need to know at this time. Kakashi knows the reason for this and that is enough."

"Because of the importance of this mission," the Third Hokage continued, "I am temporarily assigning an additional member to your team… in light of certain special circumstances." The Hokage eyed Naruto, who returned the look with one of confusion. "Yamato, please come in."

A plain looking ninja wearing the standard Konoha attire for _jounin_ entered the room and bowed to the Hokage. "You will be joining the team under the supervision of Kakashi. You understand your role on the team." It wasn't a question.

Team 7 eyed the new addition to the group with curiosity. The man, clearly a ninja in his twenties, appeared fit and capable and he gave them all a kindly smile and greeted them all. Kakashi was aware of the reason why Yamato was being included and didn't say anything. The two had, after all, been acquainted during their time in ANBU. Kakashi knew that Yamato was not the ninja's real name, but was a code name being used at the present time. They would talk about things later.

"And Kakashi, keep a lookout for Kurenai's team. They have an unrelated C-rank mission in the same area," the Hokage said as he dismissed the team.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**  
><strong>

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><p>Team 7 was on the move. Despite still being well within the radius of defense patrols led by Konoha's ninja, they moved nearly soundlessly through the trees. They leapt from branch to branch, their feet barely impacting at all. They carefully used their chakra to adhere to the rough surface and then propel themselves onward. For a civilian, just leaping across a few trees would not only be extremely tiring, it would have been both incredibly difficult and hazardous. The Konoha ninja did it effortlessly and without giving away their position.<p>

"Hey, where are we going again?" Naruto asked loudly.

The other members of Team 7 visibly winced.

"Quiet, dead last!" Sasuke was the one who barked at him. "Do you **want** to give our position away to enemy ninja? And give away our destination?"

"Hey! Come on, I forgot where we're going. Can you blame me for that?"

"YES!" shouted the four ninja around him.

"Geez," Naruto muttered to himself. "You don't have to be so loud. An enemy might hear you."

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**  
><strong>

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><p>It took the group a couple days heading east-southeast from Konoha to arrive at the crossing point between Wave Country and the Land of Fire. The five Leaf Ninja crossed over the strait separating the mainland and the island by ferry, going beneath what looked to be a massive bridge construction. By the time they arrived on the other side, it was dark, and Kakashi called for a rest.<p>

Before they even began to break camp, there was a disturbance in the trees. A monkey dropped from the branches. Seeing the animal, the group held their kunai throws and the primate hopped over towards Kakashi.

"Urgent message from the Hokage," the simian said as he presented a scroll bearing the Leaf Village leader's seal.

Kakashi quickly opened it, read it, and then frowned. "We have a critical situation," he announced to the group. "Kurenai and Team 8 reported that they are under attack from an A-rank missing nin and an accomplice disguised as a hunter nin of the Hidden Mist. Kurenai is badly injured and the team has scattered in an attempt to evade their attackers. I will go ahead to assist. Yamato, you follow behind with the team, but your main job is to keep everyone safe."

Kakashi Hatake turned to the messenger. "Please return to Lord Hokage and inform him that we are going to help out."

The monkey dipped a short bow and poofed out of existence.

"Whoah! That was a talking monkey!" Naruto exclaimed. He had never seen a summoning technique performed before.

"It's no big deal, dead last," Sasuke said with a shrug. "Everyone knows monkey summons are the Hokage's specialty and are passed down through the Sarutobi clan."

"Well, I didn't know!" Naruto complained.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Of course not. You were always busy playing around in class instead of studying. When we were being taught about summoning techniques, you were out playing a prank on the second year instructors, making all their shoes leave ink marks wherever they walked!"

Naruto smiled at his memory of that particular prank, but then frowned after a bit. He remembered that day. The teachers had stopped him on his way into the classroom and told him it was a day off for third year students. Then, since he had come, they made him clean the school toilets as a "punishment" for "failing to gather information." Which was why he had pranked them. Only later was the scolded for not attending an important class.

"Summoning Technique!" Kakashi yelled out, cutting his thumb and pressing it to the earth. A black circle formed around where he placed his hand. Instantly a pack of animals appeared around Kakashi.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, watching the dogs with awe. "I want to be able to summon dogs like that, too!"

"Sorry, Naruto, I don't think you can be given the dog contract. They're partial to the Hatake clan and sort of have a dislike of…" Kakashi caught himself before completing his sentence. "Anyway, it's nothing personal against **you**," he added hastily. "I would be proud for you to be given the contract, but I don't think it will work. Maybe some other contract will suit you."

With that short apology done, Naruto's trainer then gave instruction to the summoned ninja hounds. The pack of fierce dogs took off as soon as the word was given and began searching the area for the Leaf village shinobi. Kakashi departed immediately after them.

Yamato held the team back a few minutes before creating a clone of himself, made out of wood, and sending it ahead as well. With an advanced scout leading the way, he decided the team was ready to follow Kakashi and the nin-dogs to offer support if called upon. The team took to the trees.

"Come on, Yamato-san!" Naruto urged. "We need to move faster. Kiba and the others might need us!"

"I'm sorry, Naruto, we must follow Kakashi's instructions. But my wood clone will be able to scout the area ahead and if it sees anything I'll know immediately."

"Clone, huh?" Naruto said. "Well, no reason I can't help out that way as well!"

Yamato nodded his head, "That's actually a good idea. A few more clones joining the search could only help."

"_Tajuu __kage __bunshin __no__ jutsu_!" the eager ninja shouted. The trees around the area were suddenly filled with shadow clone copies of Naruto. Yamato, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked on the scene with complete shock. They had seen Naruto summon a dozen shadow clones, or at least heard of that ability, but they had never seen him create enough to fill an entire area.

"All right guys! You know what to do! Let's go find Kurenai's team!"

All the Narutos gave a wild shout of "Right, boss!" and immediately took off in all directions.

No more than two minutes later, a sudden look came on Naruto's face. "Huh? That's strange."

Yamato was still coming to grips with just how powerful the young _genin_ was. He had never seen anyone with such an extreme chakra capacity before, not even any of the Hokages. But the ANBU member noticed Naruto's look of surprise. "What is it Naruto?"

"I… I know where one of them is, but I don't know how. One of my clones found her, but it was attacked and dispelled before it could send a message to any of the other clones. But, somehow, I know about it." Naruto said, changing direction.

Yamato altered course to follow suit, then turned to Naruto in surprise.

"Naruto, you didn't realize that when a shadow clone dispels that anything they have learned gets transferred back to the original?" he asked.

Naruto looked taken aback, but the expression quickly turned to one of excitement. "Really! Awesome! My technique is so cool!" But suddenly, Naruto's expression turned into a frown. "Hinata's really in danger! Every one of my clones that have gone to help her have been destroyed and she's badly wounded. Let's go!"

And the young orange clad ninja suddenly took off at an accelerated pace. Yamato called out to the speeding ninja who was fast outdistancing the others. "Wait, Naruto! We need to approach this as a team!" Naruto continued forward as if he didn't hear. Perhaps he didn't. The ANBU member could easily have caught up to the young ninja, but not without leaving the other two behind, and potentially in danger. Instead, he ordered his clone to intercept the reckless orange clad youth. Unfortunately, his clone had been scouting in a different direction and would still take some time to get to him.

Naruto rushed towards the ring of ice mirrors suspended in the air where his clones had seen Hinata being attacked. Without thinking, the young boy rushed into the area along with several other of his clones which were converging on the same spot. As soon as he entered, Naruto felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Moments later, every one of the clones who had entered with him poofed out of existence. Feeling the wound on his shoulder, the young ninja realized they had been struck with a _senbon_ needle, just as he had been.

"So, it seems the original you has shown up as well," a calm voice said from within a mirror.

Naruto looked up to see an image in each of the ice mirrors. It was the image of a youth close to his age wearing a simple white hunter-ninja mask with a red swirl around the mouth area and the symbol of the Village of Mist on its forehead. The enemy shinobi had long hair that was tied off to the side and wore a simple brown outfit trimmed in thick white lines. A pair of needles were held in each of the ninja's hands.

Naruto looked over at Hinata Hyuuga, who was lying on the ground with a small pool of blood forming beneath her, needles sticking out from several points of her body. He could see her chest continuing to rise and fall, but she still looked to be in bad shape. She had been one of his classmates in the Academy. He remembered that she was painfully shy, and always hiding her face, but could never recall her every being mean to him. In fact, it seemed she might even have had a positive opinion of him.

"You've hurt, Hinata! You're going to pay for that!"

"I am sorry for having to hurt your friend," the image in the mirror said sincerely. "I honestly had not wanted to damage her so badly. Unfortunately, she was too skilled to defeat using simple _taijutsu_. She nearly managed to disable my chakra flow. So, I was forced to do this."

Naruto was surprised by the sincerity of his enemy. Apparently, whoever this was, he meant what he was saying.

"But, unfortunately, I must finish things here quickly. Zabuza-sama has need of me. If you have found me then undoubtedly there will be others with you. And I cannot risk harm coming to my precious person just so that I can be merciful."

Naruto replied grimly, "Well, I won't let you hurt her any further. She's a Konoha ninja, and I'm going to be Hokage someday, which means I will protect everyone in the village. And right now, I'm going to protect this girl in particular! So, get ready to get your ass kicked by me, Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I see," the masked ninja said simply. Then he leapt from one mirror to the next, throwing deadly needles into the small ninja who had just barely started to move forward.

Naruto found himself impaled by a dozen more _senbon_. The long needles stuck painfully in points critical to his mobility. He cursed to himself in pain and frustration. "_Kage__ bunshin __no __jutsu_!" he yelled in response, sending a several dozen more shadow clones out to attack the mirrors around him.

The air filled with flashes of the enemy ninja speeding through the air, throwing hundreds of needles as the enemy ninja flew from mirror surface to mirror surface. All of the clones were destroyed, and Naruto was hit with even more needles. Naruto felt a surge of anger as he saw that Hinata had been struck by some of the _senbon_ as well.

"Please, make no more attempts to escape. I would prefer to simply disable you rather than kill you. But if you force my hand, you will die."

Naruto leaned over, panting heavily. Blood and sweat poured down his exposed skin where his orange track suit had been ripped away. He could feel a growing weakness in his body. Gradually, he was becoming number, unable to feel his extremities. He had expended an incredible amount of chakra to search the area with the number of clones he had created. The pain and blood loss was further weakening him. He wanted to collapse and lay down.

Instead of doing that, though, he raised his head and looked directly at one of the reflections. The enemy ninja could see the look of pure determination in his deep blue eyes. Naruto growled out. "I'll never give up, and I'll never back down. If you want to stop me, you're going to have to take my life, and there's no way I'm going to die now. I'm going to be Hokage one day, believe it!"

Remembering the boy's name from his earlier pronouncement, the ninja in the ice mirrors whispered the name to himself. "Naruto." He had never seen such persistent determination before, and especially not from someone who was so badly outclassed as the odd orange-wearing ninja was now. Seeing such valor, he deeply wished that he could find some way to spare Naruto. But he knew he was wasting time as it was. His precious person, Zabuza Momochi, was in a perilous situation.

"If not for yourself, Naruto Uzumaki, then for the girl you are protecting. Give up now and I promise, no more harm will come to her. But if you insist on continuing this, she will suffer for it."

Naruto growled and created another couple dozen shadow clones in response. Immediately, more needles began to fly through the air. This time, however, they were not aimed at Naruto. They were aimed at the prone form of Hinata Hyuuga. In the blink of an eye, the attack was over.

Naruto stood over the fallen female ninja, his arms spread out wide. Every last _senbon_ that had been thrown had struck either him, or one of his clones. He stood there, bleeding from hundreds of wounds. His muscles were shredded. Naruto Uzumaki sank to his knees.

From her prone position, Hinata Hyuuga looked up to see the form of Naruto standing over her. She had been flitting in and out of consciousness, but the sound of voices had roused her back to alertness. And she saw the boy she had pined hopelessly for standing between her and harm. He had taken what should be a lethal blow to save her. Her already large, pale eyes widened further in shock.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she managed to squeak out. "Wh-why Naruto-kun?" She could not fathom what had caused her idol to save her, nor how he had come at this time when she most needed help. At that moment, two things changed: One, Hinata was no longer willing to lie down and die. There was someone important there to protect, and she would willingly be torn to shreds to save that person. Two, the young Hyuuga's feelings for Naruto were forever changed. Where before she had just had a hopeless crush, now that had transformed into a love that would never fade away. It was still a love without any hope, but it was definitely love.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata screamed. She got to her feet, fighting the pain that before had immobilized her. Now she was the only thing keeping Naruto from falling.

The ninja in the ice mirrors was shocked. He had anticipated the heroic sacrifice Naruto had made. In fact, he had counted on it. What so surprised him was the sudden willpower of the girl that Naruto had sacrificed himself to save. The fake hunter-ninja would need to send one more attack to truly finish this. He hoped the two injured Leaf ninjas' teammates would come and save them before they died of their wounds. He loosed another torrent of deadly ninja needles.

None of them struck their target. The enemy ninja's wish had come true, but much earlier than he had hoped. "_Mokuton:__ Jukai __Koutan_!" cried a voice from just outside the circle of ice mirrors. A dome of wood grew up and surrounded Naruto and Hinata, making them safe from any further needle attacks. Yamato called forth a sea of trees that sprung up from the ground, smashing through the mirrors of ice, twisting and growing in the shape the elite Konoha _jounin_ ninja chose. The enemy ninja just barely had time to escape from the cracking ice, but he was immediately caught up in the wood of the tree.

After knocking the enemy ninja unconscious, Yamato quickly lowered the dome of wood protecting Naruto and Hinata. They were both still alive, but barely.

"Hold on, you two; medical help is coming."

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**  
><strong>

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><p>Kakashi returned to the rest of the group with a severely wounded Kurenai Yuhi in tow. She had been nearly disemboweled by the enemy ninja Zabuza Momochi "The Demon of the Mist" and was barely holding on to life. Naruto's clones had located and rescued Shino Aburame, who had been seriously wounded by shuriken, but was at least stable. The clones had also retrieved two corpses, ripped completely in half. One of the dead was the client who had hired the group. He had paid the price for deceiving the Hokage and requesting a too low of a mission assignment.<p>

The mournful howls of a small white dog filled the air. Akamaru, the companion dog of Kiba Inuzuka of the Inuzuka clan of dog trainer ninjas, was inconsolable. It was later reported that Kiba had acted heroically, taking the client and leading the deadly assassin away from the rest of team after seeing their _jounin_ teacher cut down by the man's "silent killing" technique. His family would be proud of his sacrifice, but they would still certainly howl their anguish at his loss once word reached the village of what had happened. At least Kakashi had avenged their son's killer already, though that would be scant comfort.

The remaining Leaf ninja made camp, Sasuke and Sakura being instructed to devise several loud, but non-lethal traps. They didn't want to accidentally end up killing a group of innocent fishermen from an allied nation. The captured ninja who had impersonated a Village of Mist hunter ninja was securely bound and placed within a prison made of wood. When the traps were finally all set and the prisoner was secure, the healthy ninja took turns keeping watch. It was a somber camp, full of sadness at the loss of a Leaf ninja and anxiety over the fates of those critically wounded.

Late that night, after all but the ninja on watch fell asleep, in the medical tent set up for Shino and Naruto, a female shape leaned over Naruto's form. One by one, the _senbon_ needles were pulled from his body, and seconds later the wounds closed up. She sang a soft, soothing tune as she worked on repairing his body. Tears dropped down from the woman's eyes to drip onto the injured youth. "Idiot boy," her voice said softly. After hours of removing the needles, when she had finally finished, a red glowing aura of grew around Naruto. His breathing, which had been slow and irregular evened out.

When the red glow faded from around the boy, the woman sighed, then turned towards the tent's exit. Her eyes, which moments before had been soft and concerned, glowed a deep, glowering red which matched the aura that had encompassed the healing ninja. "I'm going to kill that fool who did this to you!" she growled out and stalked out of the tent.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**  
><strong>

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><p>Naruto's sleep was fitful. In the darkness of his subconscious the horrors of his battered childhood reared up. For every ninja needle that had pierced his body, he felt the pain of a hate-filled stare, the shock of physical abuse, or the humiliation of taunts and jeers from his peers and adults alike. He had learned long ago to consciously ignore their hostility, to shield himself from their malicious barbs and ostracization, but in the honesty of his own memories, each instance came back home on him like an old bleeding wound suddenly reopened. The mental blows came one after another, worsening as the night wore on. Being tripped in public streets. Being mocked behind his back. The whispers. The attacks. And always, always, there were the cold and brutal looks of unveiled hatred from the people in Konoha that withered his heart.<p>

That was when he heard it. A familiar lullaby being hummed to him. The sound of that soothing tune warmed him from the cold stares and whispered that he was loved and important. Slowly, the pain faded away.

And then he was aware of the hate and anger.

_The Kyuubi!_

Naruto was instantly awake. Heedless of anything else, Naruto jumped to his feet and raced out of the medical tent. There she was, standing in front of a wooden structure that looked like some kind of prison. Naruto didn't have time to wonder what a structure like that was doing in the middle of a forest, because he could see a glowing ball of energy being formed in her hands that promised destruction.

"Hey, fox! What are you doing?" She didn't react to his question, her single red tail swished behind her angrily. She lunged towards the structure, growling. "Ryoko! _Stop!_"

At this, the Nine-tailed Demon Fox stopped. Then turned in irritation towards Naruto.

"I want to kill him, Naruto! He hurt you!"

"He was just trying to do his job," Naruto replied. "He was trying to protect someone, just like me. And he tried to keep me and Hinata from dying. He could have hit us in the heart or put a needle in our eyes, but he didn't."

Ryoko snarled in frustration. She could feel his will suppressing her actions. The ball of energy winked out of existence.

"Come on, Naruto! Let me kill him, please. He's just one person. Nobody will miss him." Naruto shook his head. "He and his partner killed one of your village you know," Ryoko added slyly. "Kiba is dead. And who knows if that big eyed girl or their teacher are even alive now. You remember how they were when your clones found them, right?"

Kiba was dead? Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes. Then there was a flare of intense anger. Hinata. Kurenai.

An evil smile found its way onto Ryoko's face and the ball of energy returned. She turned towards the prison once more.

"No," Naruto stated flatly.

Ryoko was startled. For a second, his grip on her had loosened, but now it was back, just as firm as before. "You're a ninja, Naruto! Killing is part of your job! So, let me do this!"

"It's not right. Sure, ninja kill in battle. We can't help it; it's part of what we do. And sometimes we might even have to assassinate someone. But this is something else. It's just about revenge. And that's not what being a Hokage is about. I won't let it happen." Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What do you mean getting revenge is wrong? There's nothing more right than getting back at someone who messed with you!"

"You mean, like burning down a village that imprisoned you?"

"Right! Just like… er…" the woman caught herself. "Of course, I would never do that to _**your**_ village, Naruto. Hey, hey, you can totally trust me!" Ryoko said with an innocent looking face.

"If you try to harm Konoha I'll seal you up so that you can never escape." Naruto looked over and saw that Sasuke was lying a few paces away unconscious. He had apparently tried to intervene.

"No need to put me back in that seal. I'll behave," the demon fox said, raising a placating hand. "I promise not to hurt anyone from your village as long as you don't want me to. But why not let me kill that guy?" She said, jerking her thumb at the structure behind her. "I mean, after all, he is an enemy of your village, right? So, how about it? What do you say?"

"Unh unh," Naruto said shaking his head, looking like a parent denying a privilege to a young child. "And no killing or attacking anyone in this camp, even if they're a prisoner."

There was a part of Ryoko that wanted very much to test the strength of Naruto's will, to battle him and see if she couldn't do some damage. But when the demon fox looked into the young ninja's eyes she couldn't bear the thought of him hating her. A moment of satisfying mayhem was not worth the cost to her very new and very tenuous relationship to Naruto. She told herself she needed the young ninja because he held the lion's share of her power locked within him.

Ryoko sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, you win," she said. But then she got a mischievous look on her grin. "I guess I'll just have to have my fun _outside_ of this camp." And then she faded from sight, only to re-appear outside the edge of camp, flying away.

Naruto panicked. "Hey, wait! Ryoko! Come back!" He began to chase after her. "Stupid fox!"

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**  
><strong>

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><p>Ayeka Misaki Jurai sat upon a small pedestal aboard her vessel, at its heart, just behind the great tree behind her. She sipped a bit of Juraiyan tea, her back perfectly straight, her expression serene. It had taken her many years of study to perfect this regal pose. But now it was second nature to her. Looking the part of a princess of Jurai was nearly as important as being a princess of Jurai. The people of her home deserved to have a royal family that they could look to as models of proper, moral behavior and royal grace.<p>

"Hello there."

Ayeka, First Princess of Jurai, spit her tea all over herself.

She may have practiced that pose for years, but she hadn't done so looking at what seemed to be a disembodied head that had risen from with surface of her ship right in front of her. The head rose up, now clearly attached to the rest of a woman's body. The woman had thick, long grayish-blue hair, slightly pointed ears, and eyes that spoke of mischief.

"You know," said the woman, who was now floating in mid-air, bending over in front of her so that she could look directly in the princess' eyes, "it's kind of rude not to answer someone when they've said hello to you."

Ayeka regained her composure. She raised her head so that her nose pointed slightly upwards in the air and sniffed. "You are one to be speaking of being rude, sneaking up on a person like that and appearing right in front of them. What do you want here, anyway, Miss…?"

"Ryoko," the woman said. "And **we** are here to take your ship from you," the woman said with a sly smirk.

Ayeka was not impressed. "Oh? You are, are you? Obviously, you are a pirate of some kind. But it doesn't matter. You will not be able to take this ship. Azaka! Kamidake!"

Two wooden containers shaped similarly to logs appeared beside Princess Ayeka. They were wooden constructs the same shade as the wood of the ship they were on. The two carved logs had ornate writing on them: one in red, the other in blue. And they talked.

"Yes, princess!"

Before Ayeka could give her orders, an orange figure leapt up aboard the ship. He had spiky yellow hair and marks on his cheeks. He immediately landed directly beside the woman who had interrupted Ayeka's tea.

"Ryoko! I told you to hold up! Stupid fox!"

That was when the name the woman had said earlier struck a chord with her. Ryoko. Fox. Only then did she see the red tail swishing about behind the woman. The _Kyuubi __no __Kitsune_!

"You! You are the demon fox that attacked Jurai a hundred years ago!"

"Oh yes, that's me!" the woman said laughing.

"Azaka, Kamidake, destroy these intruders at once!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the pair shouted in response.

Naruto looked at the scene he had just arrived into and gulped. "Oh man!"

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**  
><strong>

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><p><em><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> I originally intended this chapter to be about Naruto's first encounter with Ayeka, but the rescue of Kurenai's team just sort of jumped in there. The next chapter will be more about that and get into some of the bigger alterations I've made to canon for this story. However, it will probably be a while before I can update because I need to write the conclusion to one story, continue another story, and most importantly, complete 3 projects as part of my post-graduate studies before their deadlines._

_**AU Note:** As stated in the story, Jurai will not be a separate planet in this fic. Instead, they are from another continent on the other side of the world. They have superior technology, but not space-ship superior. The next chapter will reveal a lot more about things. There will also be significant changes to Naruto's origin and the founding of Konoha, but I intend to keep the personalities the same._

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><p><em><strong>Please Review! See the little link down there? Click it and say something. I'll appreciate it!<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4: No Need for Escorts

**Chapter 4: No Need for Escorts**

The waters of Wave Country were choppy, and an early morning fog settled over the area. Wave was an island society, and boating was the life's blood of trade and commerce for its inhabitants. Which was why the massive ship sitting calmly just a few meters from shore was of even more particular note than it would be somewhere else. The vessel had almond colored wood that was shaped in a sleek, organic way so that it seemed as if it had grown into its present form rather than being carved that way. Its prow was slender, rising up from the water like a wooden sword cutting through the water. The fore and aft sections of the vessel were, oddly enough, divided by a circular bubble of wood out of which, incredibly, rose a majestic living tree. Several elegant wooden fins branched off from the main structure frrm aesthetically intriguing angles, making the entire ship look like a magnificent work of art rather than a functional vessel.

Up on the central bubble of the Juraiyan capital ship, however, the scene was anything but artistic and far from the tranquility the shape of the vessel itself brought to mind.

"You! You are the demon fox that attacked Jurai a hundred years ago!" shouted an elegantly dressed woman with long flowing purple hair.

"Oh yes, that's me!" a strange woman with gray hair said laughing in response.

"Azaka, Kamidake, destroy these intruders at once!"

"Yes, ma'am!" a pair of large wooden statues that were floating in the air and shaped somewhat like coffins with ornate markings, shouted in response.

Naruto looked at the scene he had just arrived into and gulped. "Oh man!"

The two wooden objects suddenly began to whirr and twist, sprouting arms, legs, and even a pair of heads that resembled masked warriors. What had looked to be just a pair of rounded blocks of wood had become sleekly carved wooden statues of armored samurai soldiers. The pair had the same symbols written on their chests as their log forms had had across their front.

"Aweso—Yipe!" Naruto's excitement at seeing the transformation quickly became shock as one of the constructs, Azaka, threw a blindingly fast punch that almost caught the young _shinobi_ in the face.

Ryoko responded by laughing maniacally. "Do you seriously think your little toys can take ME on?" Her laughing was cut short as Kamidake punched her in the face, leaving her nose looking red and swollen. Her laugh turned into a growl and a glowing red sword formed in her hand. "I'll turn you into splinters!"

"_Kage__ bunshin __no__ jutsu_!" Naruto called out as he formed his hands into the ninja seal needed to form his shadow clones. But to Naruto's surprise, only ten clones appeared. He cursed inwardly. He was really in no condition to be fighting now after just barely having had recovered from being a _senbon_-porcupine and then chasing Ryoko when she ran away from the camp.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Kakashi woke up with a bad feeling. He didn't know what it was, but, he knew something was wrong.<p>

The _jounin_ with only one eye showing quickly changed out of his night clothes into his normal outfit and took a step outside of his tent. As soon as he took one look, his intuition was confirmed: something really bad had happened. Sasuke Uchiha was lying face-down in the dirt and the medical tent Shino and Naruto had been placed in was open.

Kakashi immediately went over to his unconscious _genin_ trainee and checked on him, turning him over and feeling for a pulse. The boy's sudden glare in his direction let Kakashi know things were not as bad as they could be. Then Sasuke jerked himself up off the ground, getting his bearings, and began rubbing the back of his head where it was apparently still tender.

"What happened?" the older ninja asked of his student.

"It was a woman," Sasuke growled.

"Next time, try it with your clothes off, you'll get more out of it." Kakashi couldn't help himself. The Icha Icha book series he loved so much put ideas in his mind. At the _genin__'__s_ scowl, the older _shinobi_ sighed. "Okay, so what did she look like?"

The Uchiha clan boy had no difficulty remembering her. He would never forget the murderous feeling that had radiated off of her, or the evil in her eyes. "She was tall, about the same height as Kurenai-_san_. Her hair was long and gray, much too long for a _kunoichi_," the boy said with a frown. A female ninja could not afford to have hair that long, it would be too easy to use against them in a fight. But that woman had been _fast_ and _strong_.

"An old woman, huh?"

"No, her face was young," the boy corrected. He would even hazard to say beautiful, but he was not about to admit that after having her clean his clock. "But her eyes," he continued his description. "They were red. Not like Kurenai-san's. Like… a demon."

Kakashi's face went pale and his eyes widened. He was a powerful ninja with a great deal of experience; other than the _Sannin_ and the _Hokage_, he was probably the most powerful in all of Konoha. It took a lot to get much of a reaction out of him. So, when Sasuke saw his teacher's expression, he knew something was seriously wrong.

"And she had a tail?"

"A tail?" the young raven-haired student asked of his teacher. "I didn't see one, but she attacked me so fast. She moved as fast as you, Kakashi-sensei." He hated making excuses for his failure. The boy clenched his hands together. "She knocked me across the camp before I could even get a good look at her."

"Yes, she had a tail," came a voice from the other side of the camp.

Kakashi quickly moved to the wooden prison where the enemy boy ninja was being held. He gazed through the bars to see the prisoner looking up at him with dead eyes, eyes that showed total defeat.

"Tell me," the silver-haired _jounin_ demanded of the prisoner.

"It was as your student described. She had gray hair and red, glowing eyes. When she turned to attack your student, I saw a long, red tail swishing behind her. I could feel that she wanted to kill me, a hate even greater than Zabuza-sama's," the boy in the wooden cage said without emotion.

"What stopped her?"

"Another Konoha ninja. The one who protected the girl from my attack within my ice mirror technique. The ninja in orange. Naruto Uzumaki," the ninja said, a trace of feeling entering his voice for a moment when speaking the name he had heard during their encounter. His speech once again became dull and lifeless after a moment's pause. "When he appeared, the red glow of the woman's eyes faded, as did her killer intent. Then she left the camp and Naruto gave chase. I do not know what happened after that."

Naruto had stopped her? That made sense, seeing as he was the demon's container and had the power to do so. But how had he managed to get up, much less engage the demon fox in a battle of wills? The night before he had been near death, unable put up a fight or even stand on his own two feet. Kakashi quickly checked the tent to confirm the prisoner's story. Naruto was gone. Moving to rouse the other members of the team, the _jounin_-teacher swore softly. Why didn't that knucklehead wake up the camp before running off?

"Yamato!" Kakashi growled out. They would need to mobilize the camp and pray they could find Naruto and the _Kyuubi_ before too much damage was done.

"Please…" the voice of the prisoner called out. "…Please kill me. For the information I gave you, please end my existence. Without Zabuza-sama, I am but a broken tool with no one to use it."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. Drama queens.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Naruto found his shadow clones quickly dispelled by the wooden construct he faced. For all intents and purposes it moved exactly like a ninja, with the exception that it could stop in mid-air in blatant defiance of the law of gravity. The young ninja, unfortunately, didn't have that ability. What was worse, the enemy attacking him was simply too skilled for him to take on one on one.<p>

That didn't stop him from trying, though.

"I'm gonna kick your wooden ass!" Naruto shouted.

Ryoko chuckled at the loud, brash _Kyuubi_ container, "Careful not to get splinters in your big toe, Naruto-_kun_!"

Naruto charged the wooden construct called Azaka head on, but at the last second made a quick leap to the right and placed his feet against the base of a wooden outcropping and launching himself over the head of the wooden guardian he was facing. In mid-air he did a somersault, attempting to land a kick on Azaka's head. Unfortunately for the Konoha _genin_, the Juraiyan guardian side-stepped and delivered a blow to Naruto that sent him sprawling. But the young ninja was up instantly, pausing on all fours to shoot the guardian a growl before charging once again to attempt a front kick. Only to be knocked back again by the samurai construct, this time even further than the last time.

Naruto rose up to charge again, this time creating a pair of shadow clones as he approached. "Alright, let's see how you do against this! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I won't lose to a block of wood like you! Believe it!"

While Naruto struggled, Ryoko was having fun. After that initial blow to her face while her guard was down, the demon fox went on the offensive. Kamadake was programmed to fight as well as and move as fast as a highly trained _chunin_ ninja, but it was still greatly overmatched against the angry demon. Her energy blade smashed into it, bursts of electricity flaring out as Kamadake's shields were pushed to their limits to prevent structural damage. The samurai construct attempted to jump aside and attack Ryoko's flank, but the wily demon just laughed and sprang into the air, keeping the construct in front of her. She was having so much fun laughing and smashing the Juraiyan guardian that she didn't even notice how much difficulty Naruto was in.

Ayeka, however, had noticed. Watching the blond boy struggle against her guardian, she couldn't help but be impressed by his determination. She watched him get knocked repeatedly to the ground, blood smearing his lips, his vibrant blue eyes closing and bruising from the punishment he was sustaining. In all honesty, she should have given Azaka the command to finish the boy as the guardian construct was bound by rules of etiquette not to attack a downed opponent unless given an express order to do otherwise. But she didn't give the order. It was partly because she was an innocent, never having even witnessed an execution, much less order it herself. The other part was that there was something about him, the way he kept trying, the look of sheer willpower in his gaze that… she didn't know what to make of him. He didn't seem like an evil pirate bent on stealing her ship, Ryu-Oh, from her.

Exhausted, battered, and nearly collapsing from chakra exhaustion from battling so soon after just recovering from critical injuries, Naruto charged once more towards his opponent. This time, rather than knocking him backwards, the wooden samurai construct struck him in the stomach and then smashed a fist into his back that actually fractured his spine, though fortunately without damaging his spinal chord. The blond-haired ninja was sent flying through the air to land on his back at the First Princess of Jurai's feet.

One of his big, sapphire blue eyes looked up through his puffy, bruised lids momentarily, meeting Ayeka's gaze. In a daze, the young ninja blinked at the vision before him. Her eyes were a light vermilion and her hair a deep purple framing a heart-shaped face. He uttered the words, "So beauti—"

And then Azaka's foot smashed into his chin.

Ayeka gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. She felt her heart pound within her at some unknown feeling. He was the enemy, but… it felt horrible that he had been hurt.

And then another feeling washed over her, making her forget everything else. Intense hate. A feeling as if her own death was imminent.

Ryoko, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, was floating in the air high above the deck with eyes that were now glowing blood red. The very air around her began to bleed red, malevolent chakra. "**YOU**** WILL ****PAY ****FOR ****THAT! ****I****'****LL ****KILL ****YOU!**" she screamed and formed a ball of chakra in her fists.

The ball of red energy that struck the ship snapped Ayeka out of her frightened paralysis. Her head snapped up to look with determination on her attacker. She would not let the beast destroy her or her ship!

"Ryu-Oh! Defend!" she called out, clutching her hands to her heart and feeling the bond between herself and her tree ship.

As soon as she gave the command, thin beams of multi-colored light shot out from the great tree behind her, striking input nodes on the surface all around the central section of the ship. Immediately, a blue sphere engulfed the central section and the massive vessel lifted itself out of the water and into the air. Balls of red energy from the enraged Ryoko rained down on the ship, but the blue sphere around the mid section simply absorbed the energy, and where the red chakra blasts struck the fore or aft sections of Ryu-Oh's hull, they were deflected harmlessly with only small bursts of cackling blue electrical chakra energy to show that the ship was generating a defensive field.

Ryu-Oh rose slowly up into the air, the massive tree ship deflecting and absorbing Ryoko's continued blasts. Ayeka could feel the attacks like tiny pinpricks on her skin through her connection to the ship. It was an annoying feeling, but through the link to her ship, the Juraiyan princess felt the strength of Ryu-Oh and knew that a pinprick was all that the attack was. She snorted. How could this be the same demon fox that had ravaged the nation of Jurai all those years ago?

"Ryu-Oh, prepare to attack!" Ayeka commanded with a haughty sound to her voice. Thin wooden tubes that looked like the stalks of a bamboo tree split down the middle began to extend from the hull. Ayeka felt her target, then she tightened her hands which were held clasped together. "FIRE!"

The moment Ryoko had seen her Naruto lying at the feet of that purple-haired _girl_, she had snapped. How dare anyone else, lay a hand on her Naruto? Seeing him down and vulnerable like that… it was not a feeling she wanted to contemplate. Even after hurling dozens of balls of energy, each powerful enough to blast a small apartment building into rubble, she still had not felt her fury abate. As the ship rose into the air Ryoko had continued her onslaught, letting her power flow through her, into her hands and releasing it at the ship of that… Juraiyan _girl_ that had dared assault Naruto.

Then she felt the energy buildup from the tree ship and saw the blast tubes extending. The _Kyuubi_ cursed to herself. In her present state with so little of her power available, she knew she couldn't survive an onslaught from a Juraiyan tree ship. She needed more of her power back. Unfortunately, she was separated from Naruto by that bubble. She couldn't reach into his mind without sacrificing her physical form, which would defeat the purpose of going into his mind in the first place.

Ryoko dodged and weaved as the Juraiyan capital ship blasted refined chakra bursts at her. The shoreline erupted in explosions of dirt and water, showering the _Kyuubi_ in wet sand. Ryoko clenched her fists in frustration and anger.

"So that's how you want to play this, princess? FINE!" she shouted. "Ryo-ohki! Come!"

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Kakashi and Yamato flew through the trees in the direction that Haku, the captured enemy ninja, had indicated that Naruto had left. Pakkun the ninja dog had already been dispatched to try to track down where they had gone, but they didn't have a definite trail to follow. The pair only hoped they would arrive in time.<p>

"Do you think it will be fine with just your two _genin_ alone at camp?" Yamato asked Kakashi.

"Kurenai's conscious now, and I don't think there will be any more problems. I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura can deal with any bandits or wild animals they might encounter. And they have instructions to follow Kurenai's orders until I return. I don't think there's any immediate danger to them. Naruto on the other hand…"

"Yes, I know what you mean. He does seem somewhat prone to trouble. And with the _Kyuubi_ loose, we need to find them fast."

Kakashi nodded as his foot struck another tree limb and with a burst of chakra shot off further. He hoped they were going the right direction. "I just wish there was something to show us the way to go."

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

The two ninja felt their hearts sink at the sound. They rapidly altered course, turning towards the sounds of explosions. A jump later and they were joined by what looked like an ugly-faced bulldog with a ninja forehead protector. Pakkun was back.

"They're right up there. But I'm guessing you figured that out after the explosions," the dog said. "The tree line ends just up ahead and there's a small dock with a strange looking boat in the water. That's where Naruto and the demon went."

"Thanks, Pakkun," Kakashi said. With that the summoned nin-dog poofed away.

Kakashi and Yamato left the cover of the forest thirty seconds later, still hearing the sounds of explosions. The pair of ninja looked over at the dock to see it empty. But they quickly realized why when they looked up.

"Is that a giant wooden ship flying in the air?" Yamato asked his former ANBU teammate.

"Yep," Kakashi replied looking up at the spectacle.

"And isn't that the _Kyuubi_ up there dodging chakra blasts from the flying wooden ship?"

"Yep."

"**RAAAOOWRRRR!"**

"And is that a giant cat-rabbit that just appeared in the middle of the air?

Kakashi shook his head. "This doesn't go in the mission report."

Yamato nodded. Nobody would believe this. Not even in a ninja village. "Agreed."

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Ayeka felt Ryu-Oh shake from the impact of a monstrous paw. A cat-like creature with floppy ears and a fuzzy tail, a creature twice the size of her ship, had appeared in the middle of the air right in front of them. It let out a fierce meowing sound and batted the Juraiyan ship with its massive paws. It was a huge gray creature and it had incredible power.<p>

Suddenly, the thing opened its mouth and a ball of massive chakra energy formed. Ayeka's eyes widened. That much power! It… it couldn't be!

"Full power to shields!" Ayeka cried out as she clasped her hands tighter, closed her eyes, and bowed her head.

The ball of chakra formed in Ryo-ohki's mouth and then shot straight at the slow moving Juraiyan ship. The energy ball impacted with a bubble of energy around the ship that became a strong opaque blue before both the energy ball and the bubble shield exploded outward with a flash of brilliant white light and a force that kicked up a shockwave of water and air in all directions. The coastline was struck by a small tidal wave that crashed into the shores of the Land of Waves and the section of the Land of Fire which bordered the smaller island country. The trees near the shoreline were blasted with gale force winds that stripped the stronger trees of their leaves and needles, while several smaller trees were simply uprooted.

Ayeka let out a scream. She felt the pain of her ship weathering the blast. Instinctively, she knew that blast had damaged the structural integrity of Ryu-Oh. Oh, her ship was far from destroyed, but she knew she couldn't take too many more blasts like that. She had to stop the attack before it could do more damage.

"Aim for the monster!" The name of the creature came to Ayeka from her memory of Jurai's recent history. The beast she faced was Ryo-ohki, the companion of Ryoko, the villain who had defiled her country with war a century before. "Fire!" Blasts of orange energy streaked out and struck out at the gray-furred, giant sized creature that was floating in mid-air.

"**_MEEEOOOOOWWWRRRRRR_!**" Ryo-ohki protested in pain.

And then the giant half cat, half rabbit flew towards Ryu-Oh, its massive paws outstretched and claws extended. The angry beast tore into the hull of the ship, tearing pieces of the wood off the structure. Ryu-Oh responded with a point blank barrage of chakra blasts that ripped into the hybrid cat/rabbit, eliciting a cry of pain from the creature. With a final "**RAAOOWRR!**" Ryo-ohki's hind legs raked the rear section of the ship, before another barrage of Juraiyan tree chakra blasts turned the beast into a puff of smoke.

Ryo-ohki had been defeated, but the damage was already done.

The _Kyuubi__no__Kitsune_, Ryoko, floated in mid-air just below the damaged ship laughing her head off. The Juraiyan ship was damaged beyond its ability to function. Now it was falling back to the earth. That would serve that purple haired b—

Ryoko's thoughts were cut off as the ship began to fall right on top of her. It was too large for her to be able to fly out from under in that short period of time. She attempted to phase through it but something was holding her in physical phase! The blue bubble. Naruto. She couldn't phase because she was cut off from his subconscious. Damn.

Ryu-Oh's fore section crashed into the forest bordering the coast of the Land of Fire with Ryoko directly beneath it. The central section, still shielded by the dome of blue energy, had its fall cushioned by a sudden growth of wood that rose up from the ground to soften the impact. Unfortunately, the jolt from the impact tore the aft section completely off.

Ayeka stumbled from the section of her ship that was still intact. She turned to look at the damage and wailed. "Oh! My Ryu-Oh!" She surveyed all the damage with a broken heart. Her ship was like a part of her, and now it was destroyed. Her eyes fixed on the central tree that still stood attached to the mid-section of what remained of her ship. It was still whole. The heart of Ryu-Oh lived on. Ayeka frowned looking at where the wood of the forest had grown up to cushion the fall of her ship. She didn't remember causing that to happen.

"Yo!" a voice called out to the princess.

Ayeka startled, seeing a masked man and another similarly dressed person beside him. From their outfits it was clear that they were ninja. From what the princess had been told, ninja were this land's equivalent of warriors. Her eyes narrowed. Suddenly, two log shaped objects flew out from the ship to take guarding positions in front of the princess. Azaka and Kamidake had survived, though they had reverted to their block shapes to better endure the impact.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ayeka asked imperiously, her voice crisp.

The man with the mask and his headband pulled down over one eye answered her. "I'm Kakashi Hatake," he answered calmly. "This is Yamato. We are ninja on a mission to the Land of Waves. We noticed your… incident and hurried over. Your ship was fighting a flying woman with gray hair?"

"Ryoko," Ayeka spat the name. "Yes, she attacked us and tried to steal my ship. What about her?"

Kakashi eyed Yamato for a second before returning his attention to the girl. "Well, we were wondering if you happened to see someone else chasing her? A boy? With short yellow hair, dressed in bright orange, and with a forehead protector like this?" he finished pointing to the symbol on his head.

"So, you are in league with him, then?" Ayeka tensed. "As you can see there is little left of my ship. So if you were trying to steal it, you've failed."

Seeing the two block-like logs that had flown in front of the girl begin to move forward threateningly, Yamato lifted a hand placatingly. "Look, we aren't trying to steal your ship. We were just looking for Naruto."

Kakashi crinkled his visible eye in a look that had the appearance of a smile. "Since we offered our names, it is only polite if you do the same. Miss…?"

The woman with long purple hair drew herself up, assuming the posture she was taught to cultivate when dealing with people of lesser stature. "I do not believe it necessary for me to give my name just because you gave yours. But if you must know, I am Ayeka Masaki Jurai, First Princess of Jurai. And if you think you can take advantage of this situation, know that you are terribly mistaken."

Kakashi and Yamato exchanged another look.

"I'm glad we came upon you when we did then, Princess Ayeka. We are ninja from Konoha sent to escort you to the Hidden Village of the Leaf. We apologize for the confusion and all the trouble reaching you, but we were caught up in an emergency on the way," Yamato offered.

Ayeka looked at the pair incredulously. "If that is so, then why send the boy at that DEMON out to attack me? And when I contacted your…" Ayeka thought for a moment trying to remember the title of the village leader, "…Hokage, I requested a specific ninja to meet me, not to be escorted to your village. If you were sent to escort me, why isn't he here?"

"Actually," Kakashi said, "I think you already met him. The boy with yellow hair and deep blue eyes. He's the last of the Namikaze in Konoha."

Ayeka's eyes went wide, but she quickly reigned in her emotions. "Impossible. The boy said his family name was Uzumaki, not Namikaze. And there must be a Namikaze in Konoha…"

Kakashi's eyes became sad and he sighed. "What I'm about to tell you is a great secret in our village. I didn't even know all of it until I was assigned this mission. Naruto Uzumaki is the son of Minato Namikaze, who was the Fourth Hokage of our village. His father, our greatest hero, gave his life to protect our village from Demon Fox you were just fighting. The demon is immortal, so the only way the Fourth could defeat it was to sacrifice his life to seal the demon away inside an infant. Not only did Minato-_sensei_, my teacher, sacrifice his own life, he sacrificed his own son to contain the beast and prevent the destruction of our village and countless others. I am telling the truth. Naruto is a Namikaze, the last in Konoha."

At his words, Ayeka collapsed where she stood, a look of shock on her face. "It… it can't be true. Oh, Yosho! My dear Yosho!" Tears began to stream down her face. Kakashi wanted to comfort the girl, seeing the tears in her eyes, but the two guardians standing in the way made that difficult. And then surprise registered on Kakashi's face as he saw someone standing in the distance behind Ayeka.

"WHAT?" yelled an incredulous Naruto Uzumaki who had just heard the entire story.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>The trek back to Konoha was uncomfortable for everyone.<p>

On the way back to Wave Country to reunite with their team, the group encountered a gang attempting to dismantle the bridge that Yamato had created with his _moukton_ abilities. In order to get across to where Ryu-Oh had flown, Yamato had instantly completed the bridge construction. By the time they were headed back, the gang had taken to trying to disassemble it and attacked the ninja and the princess as they tried to cross. The members of the gang that didn't die uncomfortably would have very uncomfortable disabilities to live with for the rest of their lives.

Kakashi and Yamato had a very uncomfortable silence with an extremely peeved Naruto who demanded why nobody had ever told him his father was the Fourth Hokage, the greatest hero the village ever had. When Kakashi explained that he hadn't known, Naruto was still not satisfied and spent the whole time grumbling. None of the them were comfortable with this.

Ayeka was uncomfortable for multiple reasons. First, she felt extremely embarrassed at having commanding her guardians attack Naruto when the boy was trying to restrain the demon fox, not help it or steal or ship. Second, she had a secret she certainly did not feel comfortable to share, but at the same time was uncomfortable keeping from the blond haired boy she had nearly managed to kill. Not least of all, she was uncomfortable walking next to the blond haired ninja who, aside from grumbling about secrets being kept from him, didn't seem to bear her any ill will for what she had just done. Just seeing him sent feelings through her that she didn't understand and didn't know what she should do about.

When they got back to the camp, it was decided that they would have to begin the trip back to the Hidden Village of the Leaf after only another day's rest. The Juraiyan Princess was a priority mission. Wounded or not, they would need to go. So, Kurenai, Shino, and Hinata were uncomfortable because they had to move about while still hurt. Then of course, there was Kiba's body, which they had to bring back, Kiba's ninja dog, Akamaru, which they had to care for in its grief. Which made it uncomfortable for Azaka, who was tasked with carrying the body since nobody had a sealing scroll on them, nobody having anticipated a catastrophe like what had happened. Kamidake was uncomfortable because he was tasked with carrying the captured ninja, Haku, who was always moaning about wanting to die.

What made it uncomfortable for Sasuke and Sakura, though was the conversation that had occurred shortly after the group had arrived back in camp. As soon as Sakura saw her blond teammate, she rushed over to him with her fist raised to strike him on the top of his head as she typically would whenever the mood struck her.

"Hey, idiot!" she called out angrily. "Because of you Sasuke-kun was hurt! And then you rushing off to—"

Her fist struck something solid, and it wasn't the back of Naruto's head. Her hand had hit some kind of invisible shield.

Suddenly, the First Princess of Jurai stood looking at Sakura Haruno with murder in her eyes.

"Do not **ever** raise your hand to strike _Lord_ Naruto again," Ayeka coldly threatened.

"Lord… Naruto?" Sakura said with a laugh. "What did that bonehead tell you? That he was going to be Hokage some day? He's not any kind of special…" Her laugh was cut off by a burst of killer intent that froze her blood cold.

Ayeka glared daggers another few seconds and then let up and sniffed affectedly. "Lord Naruto didn't need to tell me anything. I know he's going to be someone great. In fact, he already is. Obviously, a girl such as you cannot appreciate someone with a noble pedigree such as Naruto."

Stunned for a moment, Sakura's eyes flamed and she prepared to attack the girl for her insult. "You bi—" Before she could move, however, her hand was gripped tightly by Kakashi and his hand covered her mouth.

"Sakura, do not insult or attempt to strike the _princess_," Kakashi warned, putting emphasis on the last word. He usually let his _genin_ deal with their own problems, but he was not about to let an international incident be started, especially after seeing what just one of those flying ships from Jurai could do. And he couldn't help but feel that Ayeka was absolutely right about Naruto. Knowing the boy was Minato's son had drastically changed his feelings for the boy. He had already liked Naruto as student and respected him as someone with a unique challenge, but now, he thought of him as the closest thing to family Kakashi had.

Ayeka, sniffed and walked through the camp. She passed by Sasuke, who stood aloof, one eye watching what happened while pretending he was above everything. As she walked by, the Uchiha clan ninja gave off a "Hn" sound as if dismissing her as uninteresting.

Ayeka stopped. Then she turned to Naruto who was walking by, Ayeka's refined sounding voice was honey sweet. "Lord Naruto, could you tell me who this _person_ over here is who is trying to look like they don't want to draw attention to themselves?"

"Oh," Naruto said, his usually cheerful voice betraying his dislike of the question. Why did Sasuke get all the girls? "That's Sasuke. I guess you like him, too, eh? All the girls do, because he's the last of his Uchiha clan and all. But to me, he's just my teammate."

Ayeka quickly countered his assumption. "Oh no, Lord Naruto, most certainly not. I just wasn't really sure if he was a girl or a boy. I guess some girls would like a boy who looks more feminine."

Naruto grinned widely at her comment. He knew she had said that to get under the Uchiha's skin. "Hehe, I guess so." Seeing the boy glower Naruto's grin widened even further. "Hey, Ayeka-_chan_, you can drop the whole 'lord' thing. I'm not really one, ya know. Just call me Naruto."

"Oh, of course, Naruto-_kun_," Ayeka responded, adding on the more intimate suffix in place of 'lord' with a slight blush to her cheeks. "But I know who you really are. No need to pretend with me."

Sakura, who had followed Ayeka discreetly caught that comment and started to wonder. Who was Naruto, really? Why was a princess, and Kakashi had confirmed she really was the princess, so interested in Naruto?

Sasuke was having similar thoughts. But more than that, he was wondering if what princess had said was true or not. Did he look girlish? He quietly pulled out a signaling mirror from his pack and started to look at his reflection. A chuckle from behind him alerted him to the fact that Naruto, and Sakura as well, were behind him and saw his surreptitious, self-conscious check on his appearance. His cheeks darkened and he quickly put the mirror away.

Of course, that led to them feeling uncomfortable talking to each other on the way back. Sakura's attempt to reassure the boy that he looked cool and strong backfired, leaving him colder towards her and him even more self-conscious. They couldn't approach Naruto because: 1) he was suddenly a person with intriguing mysteries surrounding him and they couldn't just ask him and 2) Princess Ayeka of the nation of Jurai was always near him and they were not about to go anywhere near her.

For Ayeka's part, she had a difficulty initiating a conversation with the blond _genin_ despite his general cheerfulness. She just didn't know what to say. She walked in uncomfortable silence most of the way, although the one-eyed ninja Kakashi did try to make some polite conversation. She accepted the open glares of the pink-haired girl named Sakura and the furtive glares from the dark haired arrogant one named Sasuke. But there was one person glaring at her that she really didn't understand. Why was the blue-haired girl with pale, pupil-less eyes shooting her such deadly looks?

And then, back on the Land of Fire side where the wreckage of Ryu-Oh tore up the forest, came the final reason the young ninja were uncomfortable on the way home.

"Okay, Team 7, I have good news and bad news," Kakashi said as those who had not witnessed the tree ship in flight before marveled at the destroyed flying vessel. His team turned from the wreckage to regard him. "The good news is that in addition to the B-rank mission for escorting Princess Ayeka and the A-rank mission for rescuing Team 8, you will also be credited with a C-rank mission as well."

Naruto cheered and Sakura looked very pleased. This little trip was turning out to be great for their careers and profitable to boot. Sakura could really use the extra money to buy more hot looking ninja outfits instead of the one she always seemed to wear.

"The bad news is that this C-rank mission is a transport mission. As you are the only ones still left relatively uninjured, you get to transport Princess Ayeka's tree with us back to Konoha."

The three turned to look at the princess who did her best not to notice. Oh, it was a _very_ uncomfortable trip back to Konoha.

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Sorry for the long break between updates. I had too many papers to do and I work full time.

_**AU Notes:**_

1. This story differs from both Naruto canon and Tenchi canon on multiple points.

2. The tree ship was not a space ship. It is basically a sailing ship with slow, terrestrial flight capability. Its powers are nature chakra based and related to the central tree and the connection with the captain. I know this is different from in Tenchi. It's intended this way.

3. In this story Ryo-ohki does not transform into a space ship or even a flying ship. It is treated as a powerful summons. Ryo-ohki will be making several appearances in future chapters.

4. The connection between Yosho and Minato will be covered in detail later. It is a major divergence from canon.

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><p><em><strong>Please Review! See the little link down there? Click it and say something. I'll appreciate it!<strong>_


	5. Chapter 5: No Need for Surprise Guests

_**AN:** Took longer than I said. Sorry 'bout that. It's an X-ranked secret. I could tell you why, but then I'd have to kill you. And then who'd write a review? Better not.  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 5: No Need for Surprise Guests<strong>

The streets of Konoha were bustling with activity. The sounds of civilian merchants hawking their wares and children laughing filled the air. The occasional chirping of birds added to the sound of excitement. The Hidden Village of the leaf was a safe, secure place, relatively speaking. Sure, there was the occasional insane or rogue ninja that attracted a few hundred shuriken, and sure, there was the occasional spill-over of fireballs or water dragons flying through the air from the training grounds when something got out of hand. But all in all, it was a peaceful place and certainly much safer than outside the village walls where there were roving bandits, dangerous beasts, and even the occasional demon. The dangers outside the village walls were what necessitated training up ninja in the first place.

Back in a small manor house in an area of the village reserved for visiting dignitaries and the homes of village council members, Naruto stretched his arms out wide in a massive yawn. The young ninja crawled out of his bed and looked around his bedroom. He was just getting used to his new home, and it still felt odd waking up to a room that was bigger than his entire apartment had been before Ryoko had blown it up. Still half asleep, the _genin_ climbed out of his bed, slipped on a pair of fuzzy frog slippers, and headed out of his bedroom door in his pajamas. A few steps down the hall, which the boy was slowly registering was upstairs, he looked up and met a pair of eyes on a woman who was just coming out of her own bedroom, still in her nightgown.

Naruto froze in place, his eyes locked on the girl.

Ayeka's face turned a beet red, and then she quickly slipped back into her room and shut the door. A few seconds later, Naruto shook himself out of his surprise. Ayeka, the princess, was in his apartment?

Whatever. It was time to go down for breakfast. RAMEN!

Naruto headed down the stairs and rushed over towards the kitchen when he caught sight of a woman wearing a skimpy robe sitting at the dining room table. A single red tail was waving around behind her.

"GAH! You're here again!" Naruto yelled, his finger pointed at her.

"Of course, Naruto, where else would I be?" Ryoko asked with a throaty laugh. "Did you think a silly little ship falling on top of me could keep me away from you?" Ryoko floated up through the air, her form briefly flickering for a moment before she disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto, her arms wrapping across his chest. "Did you miss me, Naruto?" The _Kyuubi's_ thick, long gray hair flowed around the young man as she pushed her body up against his back.

A gasp was heard from up above, and Naruto's head swiveled around to see a look of shock on the face of the princess who had just started coming down the stairs, now dressed in a modest robe. Her shocked expression quickly faded to be replaced by a look of disgust and anger. "Well, if that's the sort of relationship you have with that fox-woman…" she huffed and turned around to retreat back to her room.

Naruto's face turned a bright red. Then he turned to Ryoko with his eyes suddenly pupil-less, bulging into squares of indignation that matched the scowl on his face. "Let me go, you stupid fox!"

The demon fox laughed, "Oh, Naruto, I'm never letting you—" there was a sudden poof and suddenly Ryoko found herself cuddling a large log.

The boy, still in his pajamas, was already up the stairs in front of Ayeka. "Hey, Ayeka! Look, it's not like that! I'm just you know…" Naruto struggled to find the words. It didn't help that he wasn't exactly sure what he was trying to say. "I mean, well…" the blond haired boy continued trying to explain himself without knowing why he wanted to, how he could do it, or what there was to explain.

"Oh, Lord Naruto…" Ayeka's said, her expression softening "…Naruto-kun…" she corrected, adopting the familiar form of address. For a moment, she too was unsure of what she wanted to say. But then her diplomatic training kicked in and she immediately dipped a respectful bow. "I haven't thanked you yet for letting us stay here with you in your residence. It is most generous of you to agree to house me here during my stay."

Immediately, the boy shifted from apologetic floundering to embarrassedly self-effacing, his hand rubbing the back of his head as he finally remembered that he had, in fact, agreed that Jurai royal family (and wooden bodyguards) could stay with him in the Namikaze manor. "Oh, it's no biggie. I wouldn't even have found out that I was supposed to have this place if you guys hadn't of showed up. So, I guess I kind of owe you for it." Then Naruto looked a bit abashed, "And I'm real sorry about your ship… Ryu-oh?"

Ayeka's head bowed slightly, partly to hide the lingering pain of the loss of her tree ship, and partly in embarrassment. "Oh, that was not your doing. And I must apologize for ordering my guards to attack you without knowing who you were. It was a terrible misunderstanding, and I really…"

"Oh, that's okay," Naruto said waving it away. I mean, the _Kyuubi_ really did end up blowing your ship up, so I can't really blame you for attacking her. And I'm all fine now. Better than ever!" Naruto gave Ayeka a thumbs up.

And then his pajama bottoms fell down.

A slightly red-faced princess turned away, but not before staring surreptitiously for a good half-second. Naruto, for his part, comically panicked, his arms flying out as he tried to pull his sleepwear back up and back away at the same time. He wasn't used to talking to girls, especially pretty ones, while still in his night clothes and much less so _out_ of them.

He managed to scramble back to his bedroom and change into his normal orange jumpsuit before going back down for breakfast. He was going to have to get used to getting up and getting dressed before eating now that there was a girl sharing his home. A girl and a naughty demon, who was just now rising up through the floorboards to intercept him.

"Naruto," Ryoko called out in a sing-song manner before abruptly changing to a more chiding tone. "It was rude of you to ditch me like that. I'm going to have to punish you for that…"

She froze in place when she saw Naruto start to make rapid hand signs.

"I've had enough of you!" The ninja had an irritated expression on his face. "You caused a lot of trouble, you stupid fox. It's back in the seal you go! I don't care if I can't do _ninjutsu_ for a couple days, it will be worth it to be rid of you!" Naruto's hands flashed rapidly through the series of signs the Hokage had taught him to shut off all of his chakra.

"WAIT! Naruto!" Ryoko backed away from the boy suddenly, her hands raised in surrender. "You don't have to do that."

"If I don't, you'll just cause even more mischief. I can't let you do that," Naruto said, already starting on the third series of signs.

"Naruto, please," she pleaded. "I swear that I will not cause any trouble. Don't trap me back in that seal. It's so… dark… and cramped. Please, Naruto!"

The young ninja paused, his hands still making the tiger seal. "You won't blow anything up or hurt anyone?"

She nodded.

"And you won't jump on me and try and hug me all the time?"

"Not _all_ the time," Ryoko fudged. "Please, Naruto. I promise I'll be good." Her face had an earnest look to it.

The boy sighed and abandoned the sealing technique. "All right then, as long as you keep your word. Now, I'm going to eat my breakfast, and there had better not be any trouble!" He pointed his finger at the woman as he said that last sentence and then he headed into the kitchen.

Ayeka came downstairs a few minutes later just as Naruto started on his second bowl of ramen. She offered Naruto a polite greeting, which he waved in response to while still stuffing noodles into his mouth. Then the princess turned to the sitting room and saw Ryoko sitting on the other side, floating above a sofa. Ayeka sent the demon fox a frosty look, which Ryoko returned with interest.

Ayeka took a seat, sitting primly with her legs crossed politely regarding the _Kyuubi_ with apparent disdain. "I will have you know," she said at length, addressing the fox, "that I would not tolerate living in any domicile with you in it if it were not for the fact that Lord Naruto is forced to remain with you. But do not take my staying here as any sign that either I or the Jurai royal family has forgiven or forgotten your crimes against us."

Ryoko snorted. "Yeah, whatever. It's not like I'm worried about what a spoiled, skinny little princess like yourself could do to me. I have a lot bigger fish to fry than you. I already had my fun in Jurai, anyways."

The calm façade Ayeka put on cracked slightly as her eyes flashed momentarily with annoyance, but the look was quickly replaced by an upturned curl to her lips. "Of course a _monster_ such as you _would_ think that wanton destruction of a beautiful land was fun. I guess such shameful behavior is simply your nature."

"Hey!" Ryoko snapped back, her eyes growing dangerous. "I am _not_ a monster!"

"But you admit to being a demon, right? Haven't you announced yourself as the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_, Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, most powerful of the demons, for hundreds of years? Sounds like a monster to me!"

"Now, listen here, _Princess_," Ayeka said with a snarl, "I know what this is about. You're just jealous over me and Naruto. I can see the way you look at him, like a sex-starved hussy stalking a meal."

"I-I do not! You, you…!" Ayeka's face turned bright pink at the insinuation as she tried to think of an appropriate insult to hurl back.

"Let me warn you, Naruto is mine," Ryoko said with a glare, a pair of fangs visible in her mouth. "You just stay away from him and we'll get along just fine."

The pink was gone from Ayeka's cheeks, replaced with a burning red that covered her entire face. Her eyes glinted with anger. "He does not belong to you, you old dusty demon! I have more claim to him than you, and you had best keep your hands off of him!"

"Ha! So much for your claim of not chasing after him!"

Ayeka and Ryoko moved to within inches of each other, glaring at each other so fiercely that a storm of electricity was building up between their eyes.

"Hey, guys? I'm going out to train with my team," Naruto called out to them before walking out the door, oblivious to their argument. The door closed behind him.

The pair looked from the door back to each other. A moment later they both scrambled out of the living room to chase after him.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>A slender form darted through the branches of the trees, a shadow within shadows. With incredible speed it flew through the green canopy zigzagging around in an unpredictable path. With feet bearing touching the branches from one leap to the next the figure raced onward without disturbing a leaf. It would take nothing less than a <em>sharingan<em> to track the silent moving streak. Which was why the ninja patrolling the area completely missed it when the figure flashed past them.

The black-clad figure finally came to a sudden stop, resting on a branch in sight of tall village walls. A silver porcelain mask covered the figures face as it perched on the branch looking the target over. The entire Village of the Leaf spread out before the intruder framed by the Hokage monument, the carved heads of the previous and current leaders of the village carved in effigy into the stone face. The gates of Konoha were clearly in sight. It was time for the hunter-nin to radio in.

"Papa-Koala to Baby Koala, the nest is in sight," a warm feminine voice whispered into a microphone at her ear.

"_This_ is Papa-Koala, **you** are Baby Koala!" an irritated masculine voice replied. "And it's supposed to be Papa-_bear_ and Baby-_bear_."

"But koala's aren't bears, Baby Koala, they're marsupials," the hunter-nin replied.

"You were the one who wanted to change it to something cuter!" the voice croaked out. "Nevermind! Okay, I'll be Papa-Koala then. So, now that we have that straight, do you remember your mission?"

"Oh, right, the mission!" The ninja saluted the air in front of her as she dutifully recounted her assignment, "Hunter-nin Mihoshi Kuramitsu is on a top-secret A-rank mission to the Hidden Village of the Leaves to… to…" the female voice suddenly became much less sure.

"Baby Bear! I mean, Koala! You are not to use your real name while on missions! That's what the codenames are for!"

"Oh, right."

"Do you remember your target?"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course. I'm supposed to track down someone from the BINGO book, aren't I? Oh, let me see, let me see…" The figure perched on the tree pulled out a book and began flipping through it. "Oh, here it is! My target is _Ka_—"

"No names while over the radio, Mihoshi! I mean… Baby Bear—Koala bear… Baby Koala!"

"Right! The codename for _Ka_—" the voice on the other side started to yell out, but was cut off, "—I bet you thought I was going to say his name, but I didn't. Ha!" The hunter nin squealed happily. "My mission is to infiltrate the Leaf Village, locate the internationally wanted criminal codenamed HE-ALWAYS-WHO-KEEPS-STEALING or H-A-W-K-S and then… and then..."

"And then report it to base. That is all," the masculine voice on the other side filled in.

The hunter-nin unconsciously twirled her hair in her finger, accidentally pulling the earpiece from her ear. "What's that Baby Koala? I think I am losing reception here."

"I'm **Papa** Koala. **You** are Baby Koala! For the last time… Nevermind. Just go into the village, locate _Ka_—the target and send the information back to base. Do not attempt to terminate or apprehend the criminal on your own."

"Right. Locate the target, terminate, and then apprehend on my own! Roger!" Again the hunter nin gave mini salute. "Papa-Koala is on it!"

"No! No! No! I said do _not_ try to terminate or apprehend!"

"Right! Hunter-nin rule number… four? There is no try, only do! I **will** eliminate the target. You have nothing to worry about! Papa-Koala out!"

"Wait! Baby Koala…Mihoshi—!"

The hunter-nin, Mihoshi Kuramitsu, terminated the radio transmission and prepared for infiltration.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Two girls stood several feet apart watching a battle between two determined boys. The pink-haired Sakura had an enthusiastic look of elation on her face as she watched the battle progress. Sasuke's moves were textbook perfect, executed flawlessly from a combination of natural skill and hard hours of practice. Ayeka, with her purple hair flowing around her cheeks, was watching with a slight frown. Naruto's strikes were obvious, sloppy, and telegraphed. Despite this, however, the spiky blond simply kept coming at Sasuke relentlessly. Every time the black-clad Uchiha would knock him down, he'd bounce right back up and come at him again even more determined than before.<p>

"Enough!" Kakashi called out.

Naruto paused mid-punch, turning to plead with his instructor. "Not yet, Kakashi! I'm not through with him. I'm going to knock this guy to the ground, ground believe it!"

Sasuke hopped backwards a few steps and then turned away from Naruto dismissively. The raven-haired ninja felt a bit of smug satisfaction after the spar. The blond hadn't landed a single blow while he had knocked Naruto flying with several of his punches and kicks. In terms of _taijutsu_ skill, he was still head and shoulders above his teammate. Sasuke felt his breath start coming in gasps. He glanced over to his opponent and noticed that the orange clad ninja was not only still breathing easily, he was jumping up and down begging Kakashi to let the spar continue.

"Sorry, Naruto, that's enough of that for today. It's clear that you need more training before you can be a serious threat to Sauske in _taijutsu_ without using your shadow clones."

"_Chaa_!" Sakura shouted aloud and pumping her fist, her loud cheer drawing a look of annoyance from Ayeka.

She also managed to draw Kakashi's attention.

"As for you, Sakura, you need a lot of practice before you can be a serious threat to _Naruto_, to say nothing of Sasuke. You three have all improved, it's true, but you are not yet ready for anything serious. None of you." Kakashi looked pointedly at Sasuke. "Unfortunately, it's taken this long just to get the three of you to even begin to use teamwork and now it seems we need to jump ahead to a more advanced ninja technique that I planned on teaching only after your teamwork had improved to a level much greater than it is at currently."

"A new technique, sensei?" Naruto was no longer pouting about being stopped in the middle of the spar.

The other two were also focused on their instructor, Sakura no longer looking down at the dirt from Kakashi's rebuke and Sasuke no longer fuming over being told he wasn't good enough yet. The trio quickly stood together in front of their _jounin_ instructor, united momentarily in their mutual desire to learn something a bit more advanced.

"That's right. Thanks to an unforeseen problem that has arisen—"

"Hiya!" came the cheerful exclamation from Ryoko who chose that exact moment to appear in the center of the group, floating mid-air in a position of lying down with her head propped up and her single tail curling around lazily in the air.

Two shocked _genin_ reacted. Sasuke had a kunai out in a heartbeat, crouching back in a defensive stance. Sakura fell backwards in surprise.

"You!" Sasuke growled out, holding his kunai up in front of him with his right arm up parallel to his shoulders in an aggressive guard position.

"Precisely," Kakashi continued unfazed, his one visible eye appearing completely unperturbed by the sudden appearance. "Her."

Sakura barely managed to pick herself up, noting how Naruto merely gave a resigned shrug while Kakashi didn't look surprised at all to find a woman suddenly floating in front of them. "What do you mean, sensei? I don't understand."

"Naruto, would you like to explain?" Kakashi deferred.

"Sasuke, Sakura-chan," the blond said with an upraised arm gesturing to each in turn in introduction, "meet Ryoko, the Nine-tailed Fox Demon. Ryoko, meet Sasuke, my jerk teammate, and Sakura-chan, my physically abusive but very beautiful teammate."

"Nice to meet you…" Sakura started before stopping herself. "What am I saying! What the hell?"

"Sasuke, put the kunai away," Kakashi ordered. "Congratulations you two, you are the first of your generation to officially learn one of the village's most shocking secrets. Naruto is a living container trapping the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_ within himself. This is an S-class secret. Even mentioning this to someone else without authorization is the equivalent of betraying the village. Only the Hokage and Naruto himself are permitted to reveal this information to anyone else specifically authorized to do so by one of those two. Of course, everyone still alive during Nine Tailed Fox's attack on Konoha 13 years ago already knows this, but it is still forbidden to be spoken aloud."

Sasuke, stunned, put his kunai away. "What do you mean, a living container?"

"Didn't the Fourth Hokage defeat the demon fox?" Sakura chimed in.

"Technically, yes, Sakura, he did. But unlike what is taught in the Academy curriculum, the Fourth could not fully destroy the fox. Instead, he used a special sealing technique to bind its spirit inside a living host. A special nine-layer seal was used to bind it…" at this Ryoko let out a little 'hmm' sound and Kakashi corrected, "…her, and her power so that she could no longer attack the village."

"So," Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing, "why is the demon fox floating here in the middle of our training ground? And how is it that the dead last is the one with the demon inside?"

"Well," Kakashi said, "a few weeks ago, the outer most seal on the _Kyuubi's_ prison broke. Because of that, a part of the fox is now able to manifest outside of Naruto. Don't worry, though. She is still being held back by Naruto's will, and Naruto can still completely suppress her if the need arises. Right now, only a fraction of the demon fox's chakra can escape the seals."

"So, without Naruto, the _Kyuubi_ would attack us?" Sakura asked slowly.

Ryoko nodded with a grin. "Yeah, most likely." Then grin became a scowl, "Especially you. Do you know how much it hurts to be hit over the back of the head?"

A sudden light dawned on Sakura's face. "Wait…do other people in the village know this?" At Kakashi's nod, Sakura's eyes went wide. "All this time…the whispers…the warnings to stay away from him… even when we were just little children…it was because of the fox? And they knew?" Sakura looked over to see a very uncomfortable looking Naruto. "But, if he's protecting us, why would they treat him that way?"

Kakashi saw the change in Sakura's eyes, saw the change in how she regarded him. Knowing she finally got it, he spoke quietly, "Some people didn't understand. Some people believed that Naruto was possessed by the fox. They blamed him for what she did. Some even think he is the _Kyuubi_ itself."

Sakura looked from Naruto to Ryoko.

"Hey, don't look at me, kid. I don't know why they thought the brat could have done what I did. Maybe it's because we look so alike?" Ryoko floated over so that she stood right next to Naruto, hunched down and tried to adopt a similar expression to him.

To everyone's surprise, Sakura suddenly embraced Naruto, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Naruto! All these years, people treated you so badly!" she held him tightly. "And I… I left you alone too because my mother told me you were bad. I feel so ashamed…" Tears continued to stream down Sakura's face while she held onto the boy. For his part, Naruto was far too shocked to appreciate his good fortune. The girl he had always crushed on was now in his arms.

Two other people certainly _did_ appreciate that fact.

"**HEY!**" called the twin voices of Ryoko and Ayeka.

The princess and the demon fox were suddenly right there glaring senbon needles. Slowly, Sakura pulled herself away from Naruto, glancing over at the pair of women in a bit of confusion. They looked…jealous.

"Ok, touchy feely time with Naruto is over," Ryoko said, inserting herself between the blond and the pinkette.

"Yes, please take your hands off of Lord Naruto," Ayeka agreed. "It is not dignified for you to be…groping him like so. Besides, weren't you more interested in fondling…that?" The princess gestured over towards the Uchiha, who had listened and watched with interest during the entire exchange while trying to maintain his aloof appearance. He now looked put out.

Sakura blushed a bright pink, but quickly composed herself. She cast a furtive glance towards Sasuke to see his reaction. She felt a little embarrassed and even slightly guilty after the heartfelt hug with her teammate. In all honestly she felt rather confused.

It had just been an innocent hug, one teammate to another after a majorly emotional revelation. It didn't mean anything, and it was hardly the business of a _demon_ fox and _foreign_ princess who she was putting her hands on. And it wasn't like she was abandoning her feelings for Sasuke. Certainly not! Sure, now that she knew how tragic and epic Naruto's life was, holding in a fox demon and being ostracized for having such a burden, of course her feelings for him would change. That didn't mean she was in love with him or anything, right? And who were they to be looking at her that way or acting like they owned Naruto like that? This was a Team 7 training, why were they there anyway?

Naruto took a step back from Sakura.

"What are you two staring at? And why are _you _even here?" Sakura said, directing her suddenly built up ire at Ayeka. "This is a ninja training ground, not a visitor's center. Who said you could watch what we do? Are you a spy of some kind?"

Kakashi was quick to intervene. "Whoah, whoah, hold on now, Sakura. Ayeka was given permission to travel through the village as long as she is escorted by a Leaf shinobi, and Naruto has been assigned to do that. And as a show of good faith between the Land of Fire and the nation of Jurai, the Hokage has extended the privilege of allowing Ayeka here to observe some of our ninja in training. Jurai has a different kind of military system than ours and we hope to benefit from an exchange of ideas."

"Oh," Sakura said, still obviously just as angry as the two other women in the area.

"Now, I think I was saying something about introducing you all to a new _ninjutsu_ technique…" Kakashi's phrase had the intended effect. All three rookie ninja were instantly back paying attention to him. "This is a C-rank technique, however, it is special in that it is generally passed down through clans or even restricted to parent-child or teacher-apprentice. It is called _kuchiyose no jutsu_, the summoning technique."

Kakashi showed his students the handsigns, bit his thumb, and then performed the technique. In response, a large dog appeared. After thanking the hound for helping him demonstrate the technique he gave it a treat and sent it back to where it came from.

"Summoning is a difficult skill, requiring a high degree of chakra control as well as a high chakra capacity. While ninja with lower chakra capacities can successfully use the technique, the summons they call upon will be smaller and weaker. Whereas those with large chakra capacities will be able to get larger summons, it will burn through a huge amount of chakra."

"Why are we learning a technique like this?" Sasuke griped. "If this takes a lot of chakra we should be using something more effective." The Uchiha had been in a foul mood since his quick defeat at the hands of Ryoko and wanted to learn something powerful and flashy.

In response, Kakashi summoned another dog. This one was the size of a horse. Within seconds, it had Sasuke pinned to the ground, its teeth on his neck.

"Summons are among the most powerful and versatile of all _ninjutsu_. Do not underestimate their value. Nearly all of the most powerful shinobi all possess special summons which greatly aid them in combat. While most _jounin_ and _chunin_ are taught the seals for the technique, few are actually allowed to actually sign a contract. It is decidedly uncommon for _genin_ to be taught the technique, much less be offered the chance to sign a summoning contract."

Kakashi pulled out a large, formal looking scroll and opened it up. "This is the dog contract. As you can see, next to my name there are only three other signatures. The previous owner of the contract was my father. I, in turn, can only pass the contract only to a blood relative without the consent of the Dog Boss, Cereb." Kakashi dismissed the large hound who had been holding Sasuke to the ground. "You three are fortunate. The Hokage has spoken to all of the contract holders within the Leaf Village and requested that they enquire if one of you three can be added to a contract. This is a special request and a great opportunity for each of you.

"But there is an added reason for having the three of you learn about summons," the _jounin_ instructor turned his one visible eye towards Ryoko who had been floating there, but paying rapt attention to everything that was being said. "The skills used with these types of summons, while not exactly the same, are similar to the power needed to contain or control a sealed demon. As Naruto's teammates, and for Naruto especially, there will be a great benefit in understanding the relationship between chakra and will control. Which is why the Hokage made such a special request."

"Alright then!" Naruto shouted. "Let's get started! What do we do first?"

Kakashi pulled out his book and began reading as he spoke. "First, you go find the contract holders for the different animals, then you convince one of them to summon the boss or an underboss for you to try and impress into letting you sign their contract. I'll be waiting right here when you finish."

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Sasuke grumbled to himself. He had been to see three contract holders, all <em>jounin<em>, but he still had not signed a contract. The owners of the Horse Contract, Goat Contract, and Boar Contract had all been happy to summon the most powerful summon they could for the Uchiha survivor, but as soon as the summoned creatures had learned he was an Uchiha they didn't want anything to do with him. It didn't help that Sasuke was in a bad mood and didn't feel like bowing or scraping to some overgrown animal.

"Hey, Sasuke!" a cheerful voice called out from behind him.

"What is it, Dead Last?" Sasuke responded without even turning around.

"I just heard from Old Man Teuchi that Yokori Mitoromi is the contract holder for the Boar Contract!" Naruto enthused. "Come on, let's go get Sakura-chan and see if maybe the boars will let one of us summon them!"

"I've already been to see the Mitoromi clan," Sasuke said irritably. "Boars aren't worth summoning."

"Huh? Why didn't bring me and Sakura-chan along? We're supposed to be a team. We could have all gone together."

Sasuke hated that Naruto was right. He knew he wasn't being a good teammate.

"Because, idiot, it's better if I get first choice of the summons I want before the two of you. That way I won't be stuck with something lame." Saying it, Sasuke almost most convinced himself. "You'd better hurry up, loser, or you'll end up summoning something as dorky as frogs."

And with that, Sasuke leaped off to find the next contract holder. With a smirk, the Uchiha looked back to see the hurt and disappointed look on his friend's face. For just a moment, Sasuke felt a pang of guilt for abandoning Naruto to search off on his own. '_I'll go back and help the idiot find a contract of his own_,' he thought to himself. '_Right after I get mine_.'

"Fine! I'll just find the awesomest summon myself! Believe it!" Naruto shouted after him.

Sasuke grinned. That's Naruto for you.

Hours later, Sasuke wearily walked into his home in the abandoned Uchiha district. Failure. He couldn't believe it. As much as the other Leaf villagers loved him and accepted him, the summon Boss's simply rejected him. What was worse, it seemed part of the rejection was **because** he was an Uchiha. One of them had even said something derogatory about his eyes, the pride of the clan!

It was unthinkable. Sasuke put his head in his hands. How was he going to go back and face the other two? Naruto no doubt had found some way to get a contract by now, through some stroke of incredible luck. And Sakura must have succeeded as well. He'd be the only one who had failed. It was unbearable.

It was as those thoughts washed over him that he noticed the large scroll sitting there on the dining room table. Instantly, Sasuke's senses were on alert. Nobody went into the Uchiha district other than him. Well, him and the ANBU who patrolled the area and kept everyone else out. But they wouldn't just leave a scroll lying out like that.

Carefully, the _genin_ approached the large document, his eyes searching for enemies or traps. But there were none. The raven-haired rookie ninja carefully unfurled the scroll.

He let out a small gasp.

On the scroll were names written in blood. His father's name. His brother's name. Sasuke's eyes went wide. This…this was…the Uchiha family summoning scroll.

With a smile, Sasuke cut his own finger and signed the scroll, imprinting his fingertips on the bottom. He, the heir of the Uchiha, now had the hawk contract of his family.

Of course. It must have been Kakashi who put the scroll there, knowing none of the other summons would have been good enough for him. Or perhaps the Hokage who would have used one of the ANBU to deliver it.

His mood better than it had been in a long time, Sasuke set off to find his teammates. He had an awesome summon and yet another link back to his family.

His feelings would have been much different if he had looked back to see the pair of red _sharingan_ eyes staring after him from the darkness.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Sakura had searched high and low for a suitable contract. Thus far, she hadn't been having any luck. The ones who had the contracts weren't very interested in helping her win the confidence of their summons. Worse, she had almost been eaten by a giant snake when she approached a woman named Anko who she was told could summon them. And the worst part was that after she finally escaped that sadistic woman Sakura then learned that Anko wasn't even the contract holder!<p>

The pink haired ninja sighed to herself. How was she ever going to find someone to let her sign a summoning contract?

"Hey, get out of my way!" Sakura moved aside as a tall blonde woman with the largest bosom she had ever seen ran past her to catch a flying pig. With a shake of her fist the woman turned to glare at a mountainous man with white flowing hair and two red lines streaking down from his eyes. "When I say, 'when pigs fly' that does not mean for you to throw Ton-Ton!"

"Hey, I was just asking you out on a date," the older man complained.

"Well, here's my answer!" the woman yelled and the next thing Sakura knew, the man was flying through the air into the wall of a nearby shop.

Sakura noted a very large pile of supplies lying behind the lady and moved to help pick them up. Moments later the tall, blonde woman with a diamond shaped mark on her forehead joined her.

"Thank you, young girl, but I can get this myself."

Sakura looked at the supplies. There were stacks and stacks of books which Sakura could tell were mostly medical tomes. Looking at it all, she thought it would take a single person a dozen trips to carry it all.

"Are you taking this to the hospital, ma'am? I can help you. You can't take this all on your own in one trip."

The woman laughed. "Wanna bet?"

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Sakura bit her thumb and placed her hand on the ground as she called out the summoning technique. A black circle seal spread out from where she placed her hand on the ground. There was a small puff of smoke and then a tiny slug appeared. Sakura looked up at Kakashi expectantly.<p>

"Mmm. A little small, but that is to be expected on your first try. You really were lucky to meet Tsunade the way you did."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, she was carrying all those books at the same time with ease, but then they were rushing in that bleeding ninja and she just collapsed there, only a few yards from the hospital doors. It was the strangest thing. But, well, now I can summon slugs!"

"Yes, and apparently the Hokage has decided to set up medical ninja for each team. Nothing else can explain the return of the Slug Sanin to Konoha. This really changes things." Kakashi rubbed his chin beneath his mask momentarily in thought before turning to the next rookie ninja to try out the technique. "You're up next, Sasuke."

With a smug look, Sasuke Uchiha performed the summoning _jutsu_. The puff of smoke dissipated, leaving an adult-sized hawk looking at him expectantly. The proud ninja gave the bird a treat and turned to look at his amazed teammates and surprised teacher.

After a second of silence, Kakashi spoke up. "That's the hawk summoning, the Uchiha clan's personal summons." After a moment, the silver haired ninja-teacher regarded his student carefully. "Where did you find the contract, Sasuke?"

A little surprised it was not his teacher who had placed the scroll in his home, the young _genin_ answered. "I found it sitting on my family's dining room table when I returned home. I guess the Hokage must have had an ANBU put it there."

Kakashi shook his head. "Perhaps. But as far as I know, that summoning contract was never found after _that_ incident." There was a brief silence as the group pondered what that meant. "Nevertheless, that was an excellent **first** attempt," Kakashi now looked piercingly at the Uchiha, knowing full well that his student would have been practicing the technique on his own from the moment he found that contract until they met up. Seeing the young ninja seeming chagrinned, Kakashi relented and continued. "Hawks are excellent companions, useful in a wide number of situations. There is mutual respect between the hawk summons and the Uchiha because of the prowess of each group's eyes, so it is easier to maintain a positive relationship with your summons, making them easier to handle."

"Alright, now it's my turn!" Naruto exclaimed. "You think your bird is so cool, huh, Sasuke? Well, my summon is going eat yours for dinner!"

Sasuke scoffed. Sakura looked slightly taken aback. Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling indicating his amusement.

"So, Naruto, what contract did you get?"

"The cat contract!" the blond proudly responded.

There was dead silence for several moments.

"Cat contract?" Kakashi asked.

"That's right! I met this crazy red haired woman who summoned this badass cat with huge claws and teeth the size of kunai!"

"Um, Naruto, nobody in the Leaf has a cat contract. In fact, I've never heard of a cat contract in any village. Did you…pay this woman any money to be able to sign the contract?"

"Well, of course," the blond responded, nodding his head. "I mean, not just anyone can sign a summoning contract. You said so yourself. So it has to be worth a lot to be able to sign it, right?"

Sasuke began snickering.

"Oh, poor Naruto," Sakura said shaking her head, trying not to laugh herself.

"You've been conned, Naruto," Kakashi said with a sigh. "As a ninja, you need to be able to see through deception, look underneath the obvious. But for now, I won't hold your failure against you."

Naruto's expression fell. But then a look of determination covered his face. "It doesn't matter. Even if I don't have a contract, I'm still going to show you that I'm awesome at summoning!" Naruto cut his thumb as the others had, made the hand signs, and slammed his hand to the ground and shouted loudly, "_kuchiyose no jutsu__!_"

"Wait, Naruto, no!" Kakashi yelled out. But he was too late. There was a large puff of smoke where Naruto had been.

"Oh no," Sakura said to herself. A person who had no contract would be summoned away to whatever animal summons' home they had the most affinity for. It was one of the things that had been taught about summoning at the Academy. Unfortunately, Naruto had skipped that class.

The cloud of smoke blew away and the entire group looked on in shock. Including Naruto.

"No, this can't be. This is wrong!" the orange-clad ninja was frantically denying.

Sasuke was laughing. "That isn't a cat, Naruto. And I really don't think it's going to be eating a hawk anytime soon."

There, sitting right in front of Naruto, was a furry animal with floppy ears and a bushy tail munching on a carrot.

"Nyaaah, what's up, Doc?" the cute white rabbit asked innocently.

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><p><em><em><strong>Please Review! See the little link down there? Click it and say something. I'll appreciate it!<strong>__


	6. Chapter 6: No Need for Cats

**Chapter 6: No Need for Cats**

Naruto scowled down at the rabbit in front of him while Sasuke and Sakura laughed their heads off. All those at the training ground looked on in a measure of surprise and disbelief.

"Hey! I thought I signed the cat contract!" Naruto complained to the long-eared animal.

"Nope," it replied with a bit of a huff. "You signed the **rabbit** contract, Doc. And you should count yerself lucky! Rabbits is the best ninja animal in woild!"

Sasuke stopped laughing long enough to express his doubt about that. "Oh, really? I don't see how a floppy eared bunny is going to be of any use in a fight."

"Oh, a wise-guy, eh?" the rabbit said, shooting a glare Sasuke's way. "Why, I otta…" Sasuke burst out in fresh laughter at the sight of the cute animal putting on a tough guy attitude.

The rabbit turned back to Naruto. "Don't listen to him, Doc. You hit the jackpot when you got this contract. You'll see. Now me, I'm not a fighting rabbit. I'm more of a tricks and traps kind. But believe me, rabbits is tough."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. While he was still a bit put out at finding out that his contract was not what he had thought it was, he liked this rabbit's attitude. "Eh, so, um, what do I call you? And what do you keep calling me 'Doc' for?"

The white furred rabbit stuck out a paw. "The name's Fukyu," Naruto took the paw and shook it. "I call ya Doc cuz I'm tryin' to take after the most awesome legendary ninja rabbit of all time: Bugs!" The rabbit's eyes turned round as saucers, filled to the brim with adoration. "He's my idol."

"Well," the voice of Kakashi interrupted. "This has certainly been…interesting. But now I think we need to get on to the training. Naruto, Sasuke, please send your summons back to their respective realms for now. You can summon them again later."

His students complied and Fukyu, Sasuke's hawk, and the tiny slug poofed away.

Kakashi drew a circle in the dirt with his kunai. Inside of the circle, he placed a large bone with pieces of meat still hanging off of it, and then the masked ninja walked several meters away. With a quick series of hand signs and a bit of blood from his finger, he summoned one of the ninja hounds that were part of his contract. Kakashi patted the canine's head, bent down and whispered to it, then stood back up. The hound immediately charged towards the circle with determination. Before the dog reached the circle, however, an intense look of concentration crossed Kakashi's visible facial features and the nin-dog suddenly jerked to a stop. The hound looked confused, then tried to continue forward, only to bark in frustration at being held up by something nobody could see.

The _jounin_ disappeared in a swirl of leaves, using the _sunshin_ technique, and appeared in the middle of the circle where he had placed the bone. Kakashi tossed the treat to his summoned animal and then casually walked over to where it stood devouring it and rubbed its head again. "It's important to keep a good relationship with your summons, so make sure you bring treats to these training sessions. And make sure they are ok with the exercise before you begin. You are, in essence, asserting your will over theirs."

"No hard feelings, Kakashi. Now, if you hadn't tossed this tasty rib my way in the end, we might have had a problem," the dog said as he paused from his meal to address the veteran ninja.

With that, the man known as the Copy-ninja explained the training method and described the meditation techniques that would help them to achieve their goals. It was a two stage process. The first, which he had just shown them, was designed to teach the summoner how to prevent their summoned creature from attacking allies. The second step involved having the summoned animal already in the circle with pile of fresh treats and forcing them to leave the treats behind.

"If you can get them to walk away from a pile of treats, you can get them to do just about anything you want. Just remember, using techniques like this should be a last resort. Forcing your will on another being through your contract will create hostility between you and your summons and make future dealings more difficult. It's best to persuade them to help and establish a rapport with them. The main reason we are training with these control techniques is to give Naruto more practice at controlling the _Kyuubi_. Now, summon something and let's see how well you can handle this."

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><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

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><p>Mihoshi wandered the streets of Konoha dressed in civilian clothes with her dark brown skin, which would have given her away as a foreigner among the predominately light-skinned Leaf Village, hidden by a <em>henge<em>. The illusion was simple enough that even skilled ninja would only detect it if they knew to look for it. The hunter-nin meandered around the civilian stores, her curiosity driving her to walk through shops with wide eyes.

Passing by a clothing store with displays sitting just outside the shop, Mihoshi couldn't help but stop and admire. The styles were quite different from those in her home. "Oh! I just love this dress!" Mihoshi squealed as she ran her fingers along the fabric. Then she put one finger over her mouth as if considering something. "I bet this would look great on Kiyone…"

Four shops and twenty purchases later, the blond was walking down the street when a cat suddenly jumped in front of her and took off down an alley. Half a second later a girl with blond hair wearing a ninja outfit shot past her, followed by a pudgy boy with large, obvious freckles. They were clearly in pursuit of the cat.

"Oh my!" Mihoshi exclaimed. "Those ninja are chasing a poor defenseless cat!" Nobody around her seemed to pay it any attention.

Clothes purchases in hand, piled up almost to her nose, the foreign hunter-nin turned to follow the pursuers. She rounded the corner on a couple of alleys. To her chagrin, she found herself struggling to keep up while carrying all of the clothing items she had just bought. Considering the group she was pursuing was obviously a _genin_ team, she felt she should have been able to get ahead of them easily despite her unwieldy burdens.

She caught up to the group just as the cat was darting into the shadow of some crates stacked alongside the alley wall. Suddenly, though, the cat froze in place.

"Shadow possession technique: success," announced the voice of a third ninja standing in the shadows of the alleyway.

Mihoshi could see that a shadow extended from the boy all the way to the cat. It was obviously some sort of _ninjutsu_ paralyzation technique.

"Shikamaru! You know we're not supposed to be using _ninjutsu_ during these training missions!" the long blond haired ninja who had earlier ran past Mihoshi called out.

The ninja that had caught the cat in his shadow rolled his eyes. "Fine, Ino. If you want I'll just release my technique and let the cat run off again."

"Don't even think about it!" the girl ninja named Ino replied. "Choji, go get Tora and make sure she doesn't escape once Shika releases…"

"You let that cat go!" Mihoshi demanded in her most authoritative voice. "Chasing down and killing a defenseless animal for sport is cruel and wrong. I don't care that you are ninja, I won't let you kill that poor cat!"

The shadow using ninja, Shiakamaru, groaned to himself. "Great. Just what we needed. Another girl wanting to boss us around. And now it's even a civilian. Girls are just so troublesome." His expression was a mixture of boredom and annoyance.

The chubby looking ninja who had moved to get Tora the cat turned to the source of the outburst as he picked it up. "Hey, look we aren't going to—"

The blond haired female ninja, or _kunoichi_ as they were commonly called (Mihoshi, being a female ninja took great pride in knowing that was the proper term for someone like herself), beat the other one to the punch. But rather than the annoyed expression on the shadow using ninja or the conciliatory tone on the fatter, red-head ninja, the blond was clearly hostile and confrontational. Her long pony tail whipped around her head, and Mihoshi couldn't help thinking that she completely envied the silky smoothness of the blond hair which was evident even from this distance. What kind of shampoo and conditioner…

"Just who do you think you are, interfering in ninja business, _civilian_? We happen to be on a retrieval mission assigned to us by the Hokage." Ino snarled as she drew a kunai from a pouch and held it threateningly towards Mihoshi. "What we do or don't do to a cat or even an interfering girl like you," Ino came to within a short distance of the disguised foreign ninja, "is not any of your business. I can legally kill you right now for jeopardizing an officially sanctioned mission. Did you know that?"

Mihoshi took an involuntary step backwards. The hunter-nin realized the girl was right. Not that a group of _genin_ was really going to be a serious challenge for someone with her training, well, assuming she didn't end up caught in a shadow technique or something, but getting into a fight with Konoha ninja would jeopardize her mission. Still, Mihoshi didn't like to think that catching and killing animals, which apparently was how Konoha desensitized their young ninja force, was something she could allow to go unchallenged.

"We're not going to hurt the cat anyway," Choji said, just as the creature went totally berserk in his hands. "Though it's certainly doing a good job of hurting us," he grumbled. He managed to grab it by the thick skin behind its neck and it suddenly went completely still, immobilized. "We're bringing it back to its owner. You know, the Fire Daimyo's wife?"

Ino shot the chubby ninja a glare. They weren't supposed to be giving out the secret of who the client was or even what their mission was.

Mihoshi suddenly saw the pursuit and capture in a completely different light. "Oh," she managed to stammer out, bowing and backing away. "I- I- I'm sorry. I just really like cats. You…you're not going to report me, are you? Or kill me?"

If there was one thing Mihoshi could pretend to be, that was lost and clueless. Apologetic and weepy came naturally to her as well. The tears began pouring out from her eyes. In no time at all, the blond ninja girl was letting her go and the chubby one looked like he felt sorry for her.

Mihoshi high-tailed it away, her momentarily forgotten clothing purchases in hand.

Shikamaru watched her retreating form with a frown on his face. "We probably shouldn't have let that girl go."

Ino and Choji looked surprised. Shikamaru wasn't exactly a softy, but he wasn't the vindictive type either. He was far too lazy for that.

"Come on, Shika, she was just a silly civilian girl. Sure, she shouldn't have interfered with us, but I don't think it was anything to send her to the Torture and Interrogation squad over," Ino said. "Besides, I set her straight. She won't be—"

"Thing is," Shikamaru interrupted. "I don't think she actually was a civilian." Ino and Chouji startled, looking with a little incredulity at their lazy, but ultimately brilliant teammate. "First off, any citizen of Konoha would be used to seeing a team of _genin_ chasing across the city, and none of them would be stupid enough to confront a shinobi team like that. Not over a cat. Second of all, did you see how many bags of clothes she was carrying? There's a reason civilian women bring their husband or boyfriend around when they go shopping: they can't carry that much on their own."

Ino was about to angrily retort that _she_ could carry that much when she realized that Shikamaru was right. Ino was a ninja. While she wasn't strong at all by shinobi standards, she was easily twice as strong as full grown adult civilian male. The girl who had just hassled them over catching a cat really was probably a _kunoichi_. And they had let her just walk away without questioning her.

"Do you think it was a test for us or something?" Chouji wondered. "Something Asuma-sensei threw in to see if we were 'looking underneath the underneath' or something like that?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't think so."

Ino looked at her teammates, "So, what should we do? Chase after her?"

"Nah, too troublesome. We'll just find Asuma-sensei and tell him about it when we turn in this blasted animal to complete our mission. Let the ANBU handle it."

Chouji nodded, still holding onto the still struggling cat when there was a sudden _**POOF!**_ of smoke.

Shikamaru's, Ino's, and Chouji's mouths dropped open. "What the hell?" Shikamaru asked, baffled.

Tora was gone into thin air.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Ayeka Musaki Jurai, First Princess of the Jurai royal family, watched as Naruto sparred once more with Sasuke. While she would have to give him an A+ for effort, she had to admit that in the technique department he was less than stellar. If not for his enthusiasm, stamina, and determination it would have been a lopsided battle in favor of the Uchiha.<p>

"Kakashi-san," Ayeka said respectfully to the man who was standing there reading an orange covered book that was certainly not appropriate to be seen by young children. Or even _genin_ in training.

The man looked up, though he still had his book open, ready to go back to his reading as soon as the princess was done speaking to him. Considering that half the time he didn't even look up when any of his students addressed him, she resigned herself to considering his willingness to take his eyes off the book and meet her gaze as a sign of respect.

"I would like to speak to you about Naruto's training," she said tentatively. "I don't want to sound presumptuous, I know you are an excellent ninja and skilled teacher, sir," she added diplomatically.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book. Apparently, whatever she had to say was going to take longer than a few seconds and he'd need to find his place again anyway. "Yes, Miss Ayeka-_denka_," Kakashi said, giving her the formal title due a crown princess, "what is it you would like to say?"

"Well," Ayeka said, warming to the polite response, "I've noticed that Naruto's fighting style lacks… refinement." At a look from Kakashi, she hastily added, "Not that I blame you, of course. I understand you have been his instructor for just a short time and I have seen improvement in his form just observing these few days that I have been in your lovely village. But," she hesitated, "I can't help but notice that you need to divide your attention among your charges and don't really have the time to give him the correction he needs. I would like to help—"

At this, Kakashi gave her his full attention. "What do you have in mind?" If she had an idea for taking away some of his teaching load that would leave more time for enjoying and re-enjoying _Icha-Icha Paradise_.

"Well, the nation of Jurai, as you know, possesses a powerful military. Our power is not just in the number of our troops, or in the power of our ships, but it also comes from the training of our warriors. While we do not train in the same way as ninja, such as in stealth techniques, the hand to hand combat skill of our elite fighters is comparable to what I've seen here in Konoha."

Kakashi waited. If she was saying what he thought she was saying, this it would be very interesting.

"Well, you see, I would like to help by teaching Naruto some of the Jurai style of combat, with your permission, of course. I am fairly accomplished myself, all royalty are trained to protect themselves and their country at a young age," she interjected to try to show that she were not boasting, "and my protectors are even more skilled. I believe what we have to teach would be very valuable to him…"

Kakashi was silent for a moment.

"I know that the nation of Jurai and the Land of Fire have not yet formalized an alliance," the princess went on. "But I have a strong feeling that when my message reaches Jurai that the Land of Fire will be recognized as our ally in short order. I feel a preliminary offer of some combat knowledge to a Konoha ninja would be an appropriate gesture of goodwill."

"But why Naruto?" Kakashi asked softly.

"There are good reasons," Ayeka said. "I am, of course, indebted to him for my rash actions when first we met. And I feel gratitude and a…attachment to him since he has been so gracious as to be my host while I am in your village." The princess's cheeks flushed pink briefly as she spoke of her personal attachment to the boy. "I believe I can trust Naruto." She left the other, more important reason out for the moment. They would learn of that when the time was right.

"It would be a great honor for Konoha if you were to teach the Jurai style to Naruto, Princess Ayeka," Kakashi said with a bow. "We would consider it a matter of honor to guard the secrets of your teachings and see that they are not passed on further without the consent of Jurai."

With that matter settled, Kakashi called a halt to the sparring. Despite his sloppy form, Naruto had done better against Sasuke than in their last spar. Using his shadow clones to good effect, he had kept the top of the class "genius" off balance and managed to give as good as he got. The fight was virtually even, though Sasuke had not been using any ninjutsu techniques.

"Okay, time to practice controlling your summons. Let's see how much you have learned since last time," the _jounin_ teacher instructed them.

Ayeka walked over to Naruto and took a look around. "Um, Naruto-kun," she began, "After this I have something I would like to discuss with you, if you don't mind."

"Oh, sure, Ayeka-chan," Naruto agreed. "Maybe after that we can go to Ichiruka's for some ramen!"

"Oh, I would like that!" Ayeka said, a blush touching her face. Suddenly self-conscious, the princess looked around. "Um, Naruto, I haven't seen that fox woman…Ryoko around recently. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Naruto assured the purple haired princess. "Nothing to worry about, I got it under control. Ryoko is just sleeping. She finds watching us train too boring and I won't let her go off into the village by herself."

"Oh, I see. Well, that's good."

The ninja began their summons. Sakura managed to summon a slightly larger slug previously, though not by much. Sasuke summoned the same hawk he had the previous time. It was Naruto's turn.

"Not too much chakra, Naruto. The larger the summoned creature the harder it is to control. We want to keep this simple," Kakashi warned.

"Right," Naruto replied. He had summoned another rabbit during their last exercise, a brown one with extra long whiskers. He had given it a carrot and explained his purpose, and the rabbit had agreed to help out. He had managed to stop it from entering the circle with the pile of carrots he brought as treats, but wasn't able to make it leave a circle with carrots already in it. Now it was time to summon another one and see if he could do better.

"_Kuchiyose no jutsu!_" Naruto called out after biting his thumb and slamming his hand down flat on the ground. There was a puff of smoke as the summoning technique took effect.

"_NANI?_" Naruto exclaimed loudly.

"What the hell?" Sakura agreed.

Ayeka, Kakashi, and Sasuke also looked on in puzzlement.

"That can't be…" Sasuke exclaimed in disbelief.

Kaskashi examined the summon carefully. "Dark, brownish gray fur. Red bow on the right ear. Yep, no mistaking it. That's Tora."

"Impossible," Sasuke denied what he was seeing with his eyes, shaking his head.

Ayeka looked on in confusion. "What's wrong? Naruto summoned a strange cat?"

Sakura turned towards the princess to explain. "Not just any cat. That's the cat that belongs to the wife of the leader of the Land of Fire. That cat has been chased by Leaf ninja in the village dozens of times after she escapes from her owner."

"We've been sent on missions to catch her twice so far," Sasuke grumbled. "That cat's a royal pain in the ass."

"Naruto was getting rabbits before, but now he got a cat. So, a ninja can summon more than one kind of animal?" Ayeka asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "You can only summon the animal which you've signed the contract for. And signing a second contract automatically voids the first. That's the second reason this is so surprising."

"But I thought Naruto had the…"

"Rabbit contract," Naruto finished.

"IT'S THE CAT CONTRACT!" The irritated voice shocked them all.

They all turned to look at Tora.

"Damn it," the cat muttered.

"It's…. a talking cat!" Ayeka exclaimed.

"Oh shut up," Tora growled with a shake of her head. The ninja were dumbfounded.

"… Bad… talking… cat…" the princess managed to get out.

"What's going on here?" Naruto demanded, glaring at the suddenly loquacious feline.

The cat turned to regard Naruto with a disdainful expression. "I can't believe you're the one who summoned me." Tora rolled her eyes. "What was she thinking, letting a loser like you sign the contract? Crazy bi—"

"You mean the crazy red headed woman who told me she had the cat contract? Who is she?"

Tora's eyes turned narrowed into slits and she looked away from Naruto. "You may have summoned me, brat, but you can't make me tell you anything."

Naruto glared at the cat with a clenched fist.

Kakashi beamed. "Excellent! Naruto, time to take your training up another notch."

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Had a hard time writing this chapter, but here it is. It's shorter than previous ones, but I figured you'd rather have this much than wait another week. Hope you like it.  
><em>

* * *

><p><em><em><strong>Please Review! See the little link down there? Click it and say something. I'll appreciate it!<strong>__


	7. Chapter 7: No Need for Exams

**Chapter 7: No Need for Exams**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight," Sarutobi said, puffing on his pipe. "The Fire Daiymo's wife's cat is a summoned creature?"<p>

"Correct, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said while kneeling before the village leader with his head bowed. This was not a time to display familiarity as the copy-ninja tended to in the presence of the leader of the village.

"And Naruto, here," Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, indicating the blond who was staring intently at the cat sitting frozen in place on the Hokage's desk, "has signed the cat contract and summoned Tora?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage," the _jounin_ acknowledged.

"And Naruto was able to make Tora confess to being sent to Konoha as a spy for the contract holder?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and Tora's mouth opened. "Yes, H-H-oka-ge," the cat hissed out.

The Hokage sighed. "There is no telling how much information about the village has been passed on to potential enemies. We must consider all previous security measures compromised. Bear-san!" the old man barked out. An ANBU member wearing a white bear mask immediately appeared beside Kakashi, kneeling in a similar fashion. "Go to the Fire Daimyo and inform him that a spy has managed to infiltrate his very household and that he should consider his security in jeopardy."

"Yes sir!" the ninja responded before vanishing just as quickly as he came.

"Naruto," the Hokage said, turning his gaze on the rookie ninja before him, the steely glint in his eyes melting into warmth. "You have made incredible progress in such a short time." There was a sense of pride in his voice as well. "Your training and hard work have allowed us to detect a potential breach in village security that could have led to disaster."

"Thanks, old man," Naruto answered with a smile creeping onto his face, though his voice was clearly strained from maintaining his hold on Tora.

"As for Tora, she must not be permitted to be summoned back to her other master."

"Hokage-sama, I believe I can place a seal on the animal that would prevent any sort of space-time jutsu transport," Kakashi volunteered. "But she would still need to be prevented from leaving the village by conventional means."

"You know, we could always give her back to Madam Shijimi," Naruto suggested. "I could even get credit for a D-rank mission for finding her again. And that way, if someone is watching, they wouldn't realize we know about Tora."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with surprise, as did everyone else. "Not a bad idea, Naruto. I guess you're not as dumb as you look," his teammate acknowledged grudgingly.

Naruto grinned for a second before his expression changed to one of alarm as Tora suddenly bolted for the door.

"Oh no!" Tora was yelling. "Oh, hell no!"

The cat might have given _genin_ teams trouble, but Kakashi had Tora held by the neck in no time. The cat desperately tried to claw him, but the special _jounin_ easily evaded the claws. "Looks like Naruto has, surprisingly, found us yet another advantage."

The cat was frantic. "Put your seal on me. Lock me up in the Torture and Interrogation division. Have Ibiki work me over. Hell, give me to the bloody Inuzuka clan to use as a chew toy. But don't send me back to that woman! I'll tell you everything, things I was holding back!"

"How about the name of that crazy red-headed woman who holds the cat contract?" Naruto pressed.

Tora gave out a strangled wail. "She's almost as bad as Madam Shijimi!" The cat growled out a throaty meow of desperation. "Look, I can't. I really can't, even if you torture me. There's a seal that prevents me from betraying her. You can see it beneath the fur on my chin if you don't believe me!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips formed a thin smile around his pipe. "Kakashi, make the seal that would prevent anyone from summoning Tora. We'll send her to Ibiki for an interview. If he doesn't like what she says, we'll let Madam Shijimi know that we've located her lost cat. I figure after all this time she will be extra pleased to get her little Tora back."

The cat visibly shivered.

With that out of the way, the Hokage was happy to turn to more pleasant matters. "Kakashi," Lord Sarutobi continued, "how would you evaluate your team's overall readiness?"

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all turned to look questioningly at their mentor.

"Before all of this excitement, I would have said their teamwork sucked, they lacked the necessary skills and discipline, and that they were not anywhere near mature enough to handle a real mission. Then with the Kyuubi partially escaping…" The three _genin_ hung on their _jounin_-sensei's worsds. "...I would have to say no way in hell."

Naruto and Sakura's faces fell hard, while Sasuke looked mutinous.

"But," Kakashi said, his eye crinkling into a smile, "since then the team has really pulled together. They've worked harder. Improved their teamwork. And Naruto has matured incredibly in a short period of time." Naruto beamed at the praise. "If you were to ask now, I would approve their entry into the Chunin exams."

"Naruto, do you feel you can control the Nine-Tailed Fox well enough to ensure the safety of the village?" Saurtobi asked.

"No problem, Old Man! I'll keep Ryoko in check, believe it!"

"Very well, then. Team 7 is eligible to participate in the exams. Naruto, please call Ryoko out so that I may speak with her."

Naruto had barely even thought of the fox when she suddenly materialized in the Hokage's office. She appeared, predictably, on the Hokage's desk and stretched her body out with a loud yawn. "Oh, I had such a wonderful nap. What did I miss?"

"Hi, Ryoko," grumbled a voice.

"Hi, Tora," Ryoko greeted back.

"What!" Naruto yelled. "You know her? YOU KNEW SHE WAS A SUMMON!"

Ryoko nodded.

"And you didn't tell us?"

Ryoko grinned. "You didn't ask."

Hiruzen Sarutobi fixed the Nine-Tailed fox with a cold stare. "Ryoko. It has been decided that Naruto shall participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams. You will, no doubtedly, find opportunities for chaos and destruction when his attention is on performing well and less focused on you." The elderly man puffed three times on his pipe. "If you try to take advantage of these opportunities to kill, destroy, or cause pain to the people of my village or to unoffending participants from other villages, I guarantee that your freedom will be curtailed and you will spend the next many decades bound in a dark place without any windows. Do you understand me, Fox?"

Ryoko's calm expression turned into a scowl. "I don't like being threatened, Old Man," the Nine-Tailed fox shot back at him. But then she calmed down, turning her head away from the village leader. "But I have little interest in destroying your village. For now."

"Or ever," Naruto growled at her. "I won't let you hurt anyone in this village, Ryoko! Believe it!"

The scowl left Ryoko's face and was replaced with an indulgent smile. "As long as nobody is trying to hurt you, my Naruto-kun, you don't have to worry about it. I'll leave your village in one piece. But I won't let anyone lay a finger on you."

"Hey! I don't need you to protect me, stupid Fox! I can protect myself."

A look of challenge appeared in Ryoko's eyes. "Oh? Is that so? Well, we'll see, little Naruto. We'll see." Then she turned to regard the leader of Konoha. "As for you, Old Man," she said, once again borrowing Naruto's term for the Hokage, "you don't need to worry. I won't interfere. Much."

And then the fox faded back away with a mocking laugh.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>Konoha holding the Chunin exams made Mihoshi's job much easier. She no longer had to disguise herself as a civilian to move around. When the <em>genin<em> contingent from her home village had arrived, she made contact with the group's _jounin_ instructor, relaying the details of her mission in the Leaf Village to him, and was registered as a visitor along with the other shinobi. She still had to move carefully and not attract attention when she was wandering the village away from the _genin_ team, which would seem suspicious unless she had a legitimate reason for leaving the others, but it was much easier than before when she had to pretend to be a Leaf villager.

Of course, she still needed to have a reason for going where she was going, and telling them that her reason was to find and kill a certain rogue ninja was not going to cut it. So, she made certain to bring along her shopping bag. It really was just a cover. It had nothing to do with her wanting to purchase all the latest Leaf ninja fashions to show off to her old partner. Nothing at all to do with that. Honest.

Truth be told, the hunter-nin was really having a great time. She had spent a year's worth of money on the clothes here, which were just to die for, all now placed safely in storage scrolls for later. Mihoshi found it refreshing to walk in a village where the ninja and the civilian population mixed together so much. It was quite different fro—

There. She spotted silver-gray hair in a crowd, obviously on a man. H.A.W.K.S. had hair that color, a rarity on someone so young. Mihoshi made her way towards the one who might potentially be her target.

Unfortunately, he was heading into Konoha's general hospital. This would greatly complicate tailing him. She had to get a look at his face. She would need a disguise.

Dressed in a Konoha nurse's outfit, Mihoshi carefully made her way through the hospital, keeping her eyes on the silver hair that was just out of sight.

"Nurse!" a loud voice ordered from behind her. "Bring me a roll of gauze and a dozen medical needles."

Mihoshi wheeled around and immediately saw a look of impatience on the face of a woman with long, blond hair and a small diamond shape in the middle of her forehead. "La-Lady Tsunade!" she managed to stammer out. She was staring face to face with one of the legendary _Sannin_, the three elite ninja of Konoha named as elite warriors by their former enemy, the even more legendary Hanzo. Everyone of any experience in the ninja world knew who this blond haired woman was. Tsunade was legendary for her incredible expertise in medicine, her incredible strength, and her incredible temper.

"Yes, I know who I am, now get me those supplies. Now!" the woman snapped at her.

"Hai!" Mihoshi snapped in response, with a dutiful salute. She had no idea where in the hospital she was supposed to get gauze and _medical_ needles, whatever those were, but Tsunade was not someone you said no to, especially not in a hospital.

The hunter-nin frantically looked around for the supplies. When she couldn't locate them quickly, she improvised. Moments later, she returned to Tsunade with a slightly frazzled looking roll of gauze and several long needles. She handed them over to the medical ninja who took them without even looking, and then Mihoshi disappeared into the crowd before any questions could be asked.

Tsunade looked at the supplies in her hand and frowned. "What is this?" She turned around to see that the nurse she had called to was nowhere to be seen. In Tsunade's hands were used gauze that had been rewrapped and a dozen _senbon_ needles which had been pulled out of their target.

There was a sudden commotion from a room nearby and a very angry doctor wheeled a patient in a wheelchair over, the patient was moaning with a leg half of a wounded leg unwrapped. "Who did this? I leave the room for a minute and come back and my patient is…oh…Lady Tsunade…"

The tall blond haired woman scowled. "Somebody get me some _fresh_ gauze and medical needles," she snapped.

Mihoshi, still within hearing range, scrambled away as quickly as she could. When she was safely out of danger, she let out a sigh of relief and turned to step through the crowd when—she bumped directly into someone.

"Oh, excuse me," she apologized as she looked into the eyes of the man…with silvery gray hair. "Oh…it's…you…" Mihoshi managed to get out, again stammering. "Ka…Kakashi!"

The disguised hunter-nin was momentarily stunned, but quickly reacted. Mihoshi reached into a pouch at her belt and whipped out a sharp pointed object. The masked _jounin_ ninja responded, adopting a defensive position. And then Mihoshi thrust the object towards Kakashi.

It was a pen.

"You're the famous Copy Ninja! I can't believe I'm finally meeting you! They say you know a thousand techniques. Oh, wow!" Mihoshi hurriedly pulled out a parchment to go along with the writing instrument. "Could you sign this for me? Make it out to your best fan, Mihoshi?"

Kakashi Hatake relaxed, and after a moment of perplexity, signed the strange nurse's paper. He watched as she hugged the paper to her chest and then bounded off with a giggle. With a shrug of his shoulders, he walked over to find Tsunade. With Sakura and the rest of Team 7 entered into the Chunin exams, he would need to speak to the legendary medic ninja about altering student's training schedule to accommodate the exams, since Sakura had managed to somehow win an apprenticeship from the _Sannin_ on some kind of bet. Kakashi normally wouldn't bother with informing someone about something like this personally, but this was Tsunade.

Back outside Konoha's hospital, Mihoshi smiled. While she hadn't found He- Always-Who-Keeps-Stealing, she had managed to get the autograph of her favorite ANBU Magazine Pin-up Ninja. 1000 Kakashi.

Now, to keep looking for her target.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>Naruto and the rest of Team 7 sat together in one of the larger rooms in the Academy. There had been a bit of tension on the way in as a pair of <em>Chunin<em> had created a _genjutsu_ that made it appear as if all the stairways only led downward. Several _genin_ teams were taking out their frustrations on anyone else in the area and Team 7 had narrowly avoided a physical confrontation with a team from the Hidden Village of Rock, thanks to the unexpected intervention of another team from Konoha.

"It looks like your admirer and his team made it too, Sakura," Naruto teased the pink haired female ninja when he noticed the green-spandex wearing ninja smiling at her from a distance.

"That's nice, I guess," she replied. Sakura didn't know how to deal with the attention of the over-enthusiastic ninja who had introduced himself as Rock Lee.

On the one hand, he had boldly stepped between her and the Iwa ninja and saved her from being hassled. He was obviously a strong fighter and his pledge to defend Sakura had moved her. On the other hand, however, his jet black bowl-cut hairstyle, horrendous green full-body spandex uniform, and eyebrows that were as thick as his perfectly round eyes were a hard pill to swallow. Sakura felt a little bad about it, but she _definitely_ did wanted to keep a distance. Team 8 and Team 10 were also there, Kiba having been replaced by an older substitute whose teammates had been killed.

While Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were getting comfortable and catching up with Team 8 and Team 10, another ninja from the Leaf village came over and introduced himself as Kabuto, a veteran of the Chunin exams. The silver-haired ninja offered to help the Konoha rookie teams by sharing information he had on their competitors. The older shinobi pulled out a deck of blank cards, channeled some chakra into them, and then information appeared about different ninja from the different villages. Kabuto left Team 7 with a wave and a kindly smile a short time later.

"He seems like a nice guy," Naruto commented to his team. Sakura nodded her agreement.

Sasuke, however, simply snorted in contempt. "No wonder he has failed to make _chunin_ seven times already. What a fool to be giving away an advantage like that."

"Come on, Sasuke," Naruto answered with a frown. "He's a fellow Leaf villager, like us."

"Like you, maybe, Dead Last," Sasuke shot back irritably. "But not like me. When it comes time to face each other in the competition, we have no allies or comrades. Only ourselves. We're in this competition to advance. For me, it's just another step on my way to accomplishing my goal."

Naruto scowled. "Yeah, we know. To kill somebody."

Sasuke was about to retort when a piercing whistle cut through the room. All eyes turned towards the front where an older man stepped forward.

"Dad?" Ino asked in surprise as she saw her father.

Ignoring the exclamation and the snickers from the many ninja in the room, the man spoke. "Listen up everyone. I am Inoichi Yamanaka of the Leaf village. Originally, Ibiki was supposed to be your proctor for the first part of this exam, but unfortunately, he was needed for an important task." Naruto and Sakura smiled knowingly, while Sasuke just hmphed. "So, I will be the proctor."

"Oh, no. This is bad," Ino said paling slightly.

"Come on, can't be that bad. It's your dad," Chouji said.

"You don't understand. My dad takes tests like these very seriously, and you never know what he is really trying to test you about. One time he made me believe I had accidentally killed a cat. I thought he was trying to see how I would handle the guilt, but at the end of the day he showed me the cat was still alive and scolded me for not checking carefully if the animal was really dead or not."

Inoichi continued. "In this task, each team will be given a scroll with a unique coded message on it which you must keep on one of your team members at all times. You will also be assigned an opposing team whose scroll you must learn the contents of. At the end of one hour, you must return your original scroll to the proctor or you fail. You must also deliver the contents of your assigned target, or you fail. This is an information gathering test. You may use any means to learn the content of your opposing team, with one exception: Attacking or harming any other team is expressly forbidden. Anyone found attacking anyone else will be disqualified from further participation in this exam."

"Hmm, hmm," came a quiet reminder from beside Inoichi.

"Yes, Miss Ayeka, I was getting to you," the man said patiently. "This is Princess Ayeka of the nation of Jurai who will be attending this year's exams as an observer. Usually only the finals of the exams are observed by non-ninja, but this is an exceptional case. If you see Miss Ayeka, please give her the courtesy and respect she deserves." A pair of masked ANBU appeared behind the purple haired princess. "Discourtesy will not be tolerated."

"I look forward to witnessing what the ninja of the Allied Nations are capable of," Princess Ayeka called out to the group. "Good luck to all of you," she said aloud. "And especially, you Naruto," she added quietly.

Shikamaru looked over at Naruto, as did several others who knew who he was by name. "I wonder if she realizes that ninjas are trained to listen for extremely quiet sounds as well as read lips…"

The Konoha _genin_ blushed.


	8. Chapter 8: No Need for Tricks

**Chapter 8: No Need for Tricks**

Ayeka walked down the halls of the Konoha Ninja Academy watching the various ninja interacting. Wherever she went she was greeted with deep bows and given a wide berth by all the participating ninja and those overseeing the exam. That was partly because the _genin_ had all been instructed by their teachers that the Princess was a very important person that their village leaders would want to impress, and partly because of the presence of the ANBU bodyguards who were just out of sight, but radiating enough killer intent that nobody would be foolish enough to try anything.

The purple haired princess was able to watch the interaction among many of the ninja. She was surprised by just how quick and stealthy they were, each trying to outmaneuver another group and gain access to their scroll. Some used thin ninja wire and mirrors to try and catch a glimpse of the symbol on the outside of other teams scrolls, while others used a more direct approach. One group she noticed trapped an enemy team in shadow while another took control of another's mind to get access to their scroll. Many other teams relied on speed and dexterity to quickly wrest the scroll from a group with their guard down, who would then be pursued by the group that had been stolen from.

It was all very impressive. Jurai had many powerful warriors, but the honorable samurai tradition of their clans, and particularly that of the royal house, did not lend to such tactics. Samurai warfare was always upfront and openly declared, which meant that delicate matters most often had to be avoided. No wonder her betrothed, Yosho, had been so interested in the Elemental Nations.

But the princess knew her own interest in the Land of Fire had become much more personal than just learning about the powers and skills of potential allies, even if she didn't want to admit that was the case. She sighed to herself and let out a breathless whisper of "Naruto" as she continued to look for the orange clad ninja and his team.

She never noticed the sinister smiles of the Rock ninja as she passed by them.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were holed up in one of the smaller classrooms in the Academy building. Sakura had barred the door using a low-level sealing technique. It wouldn't keep out anyone intent on breaking in, but it would at least give the trio a little warning if someone tried to enter. They only had an hour to get the information on a scroll, and they didn't even know what team had the scroll they needed. Sasuke opened the scroll they had, his eyes scanning the document. His mouth turned upwards in a slight smirk. He handed the scroll over to Sakura. Sakura's smile soon mirrored the black-haired boy's.<p>

"Let me see! Let me see!" Naruto demanded.

With a shrug of her shoulders, the pink haired _kunoichi_ handed the scroll over to Naruto.

Naruto scanned the document as well. He put on his best "I got this face" and nodded his head, while inwardly he was completely puzzled. He didn't understand the writing at all. After a moment of keeping up the pretense of understanding, his impatience got the better of him.

"Okay, so what does this mean?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's encrypted, you loser. Only an expert in cryptography can break the code. Which means that everyone else's scroll will be equally difficult to understand."

"Oh, yeah, right," Naruto said with a foolish grin. "I knew that. So, we'll just have to figure this out in an hour, right? I bet Sakura can do it, no problem!"

"No, Naruto," Sakura said shaking her head. "This isn't some Academy code we can break in a few minutes. It's a multi-layered encryption. And it's not our job to decode this message. We've got to get the message held by another team. And even if we do that, there's no way any of us will be able to crack the code in time."

Naruto frowned, crossing his arms in defiance of the problem. But if Sakura couldn't break the code, he had no way of doing it himself. 'This sucks!' the young ninja thought to himself.

'_I could crack that code, Naruto,'_ Ryoko's voice purred in his mind.

'_Huh? What? You can?'_ Naruto answered back.

'_Of course. Codes like that are simple to me.'_

'_Oh, wow, great! So you'll help us break the code when we get the message from the other team!'_ Naruto beamed inwardly.

'_No, I don't think I will,'_ Ryoko laughed within his mind. _'You don't need my help is what you said, remember?' _she teased.

Naruto growled. "Stupid fox," he grumbled aloud.

"What was that Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing," the yellow-haired ninja answered petulantly. "So, how are we going to break the code?"

"Idiot," Sasuke responded, "we don't need to. All we need to do is get the message back to the proctor and return our own scroll. What we need to do is get a hold of the scroll of the team we are going after, or make a copy of it and return that copy and our scroll to the proctor when the hour is up."

"Oh," Naurto said. "But how will we know which team has the scroll we want?"

"Easy, baka," Sakura said with a roll of her eyes. "We find the team with the scroll with this symbol on it," she said, pointing to the last symbol in the message they carried. "The last line of the scroll used a different encryption. Anyone with half a brain could figure that last line out. Apparently, that doesn't include you."

"HEY!" Naruto protested loudly.

"Don't worry, Naruto," Sasuke said with a smirk, "Sakura and I have got enough brains for all of us. I've already come up with a plan." Then, to Naruto's surprise, Sasuke gave Naruto a clap on the shoulder and a genuine smile. "But it's going to take your skills to pull this off. We're going to be relying on you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>Hinata Hyuuga looked around her surroundings in the once familiar Leaf Ninja Academy halls, everything having been re-arranged in preparation for the exam. Sweat beaded on her forehead from the effort she had been exerting over the past fifteen minutes. With Kiba gone, in the absence of their <em>jounin<em> instructor the role of leader had fallen to the newcomer to the team, an older _genin_ named Kabuto. He was a medical specialist familiar with the capabilities of the _Byakugan_ powers of her family, and unlike Kiba, expected a lot from young Hinata.

A flash of orange caught the pale eyed kunoichi's attention. Naruto! She felt her heart begin to beat more rapidly. She hadn't even formally thanked him since the day he had saved her life, despite thinking of little else every day since then. The boy she admired more than anyone else had come out of nowhere, throwing himself in the path of deadly senbon needles and taking the hits that had been meant to end her life. Somehow, Naruto had not only found her and protected her, he had inspired her to bravery she hadn't been aware that she possessed. And now, here he was again, right in front of her. Team 7 was out gathering information just as her own team was.

"Um, Kabuto?" Hinata spoke up shyly.

"What is it, Hinata?" the older silver-haired _genin_ answered with his typical smile.

Kabuto was much easier for Hinata to speak to than Kiba had been. The aggressive Inuzuka had always made the shy Hyuuga doubt the importance of anything she wanted to say, and as a result, she often remained silent rather than voicing her own thoughts. Kabuto, on the other hand, was much more encouraging, always with a kind smile on his face. The new team leader went out of his way to acknowledge the contributions made by herself and Shino rather than trying to take any glory for himself. There were moments that Hinata did not trust her new teammate, there were currents of emotion running through him that were incongruous with his friendly expressions, but these were brief moments that quickly passed. Despite these emotional inconsistencies that she picked up on through her training as a Hyuuga, she still found it much easier to offer suggestions to Kabuto than she ever had to Kiba.

"I-I see Team 7 over there. I think, maybe, it would be helpful to us if we went over and exchanged information with them."

"Hinata, while I appreciate that you have friends on Team 7, in this exercise they are our opponents just as much as any other team would be," the older _genin_ said, adjusting his glasses. Hinata lowered her eyes, recognizing the truth of her team leader's words. After a pause though, he gave her a smile. "However, from my experience in previous exams, I can say that the ability to assess another team and make use of information they might have is an ability that is looked on favorably during the selection process. And they are our fellow Leaf ninja, after all. We'll just have to be cautious while we interact with them until we know that they aren't after our scroll."

Hinata beamed a smile at her teammate and nodded her head.

Hinata approached Team 7 with the rest of Team 8 remaining a short distance behind. The Hyuuga was touching the tips of her fingers together repeatedly, working up the nerve to open her mouth. "Um, hello, Naruto-kun…Sakura, Sasuke," she began nervously.

The blond-haired _genin_ turned to the voice a little surprised. "Oh, hey, Hinata-chan. What's up?"

The young girl's pale complexion rapidly took on a slightly rosy hue as she had the attention of Naruto. "Oh, um…you know…I…I mean Team 8…we kind of think we could help each other out. Work together." She bowed her head as she spoke, but then lifted her gaze up to meet Naruto's. "We've gathered information about a lot of other teams. Maybe we can share some information? I'm sure your team is also doing just as well, and maybe we can help each other?"

Naruto looked over towards Sakura.

"Oh, that's a great idea, Hinata," Sakura said with a smile and a nod towards Naruto and Sasuke. "Let's find a room where we can exchange information privately."

The pink-haired _genin_ led her team and Team 8 into one of the side classrooms. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were quickly joined by a slightly red-faced Hinata, Shino, and last of all Kabuto. The older, silver-haired ninja closed the door behind him with a knowing smile on his face.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>There was a sudden knock at the door. With a frown, the blond-haired, orange-wearing ninja went to answer.<p>

"What's the password?" he asked loudly.

"Password? Oh, my," a familiar voice called out from behind the door. "I'm afraid I don't know what your password is supposed to be."

"Princess Ayeka?" Naruto answered.

"Yes, it's me. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh, sure," the boy's cheerful voice called out. "I'm not really supposed to let anyone in here, but I guess it's alright if it's just you, Princess Ayeka."

The princess stepped in with her long purple tresses flowing behind her in a serene, almost regal expression on her face. Naruto quickly closed the door behind her.

"Oh, Naruto, I'm so happy to see you," she said with a smile. "But where are Sasuke and Sakura? Shouldn't they be with you?"

Naruto crossed his arms and looked away, as if annoyed with answering the question. "They left me in here to guard the scroll while they went out to find our target."

"Oh, so, you have your team's scroll? Can I see it?" she asked with a sweet voice.

"Uh, sorry Princess Ayeka, but I'm not supposed to let anyone see the scroll at all. If Sasuke or Sakura found out I even let you in this room they'd probably kill me."

Ayeka's face turned into a pout. "But Naruto, it's me. I'm sure Sakura or Sasuke wouldn't mind."

Naruto's face turned into a frown, before the blond-haired _genin_ handed the scroll over. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Princess Ayeka. I guess they wouldn't mind if you saw the scroll. And the proctor did tell us to take care of you while you were out observing the event."

As soon as Ayeka's hands closed around the scroll, the classroom filled with thick smoke. Naruto called out for Ayeka to take cover, but when the smoke cleared, Naruto was in the classroom alone. Ayeka was gone. And so was the scroll.

Outside the classroom, the form of Ayeka vanished in a puff of smoke as one of the participating ninja from the Land of Rock appeared in her place. The ninja twirled the scroll he had obtained in his hand before leaping away quickly to join the rest of his team. The trio smirked to themselves. That was one team of Leaf shinobi that would be out of the exams.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-<em>sama<em>," one of the medical ninja addressed the tall, blond woman in a very respectful tone of voice.

The director of Konoha's hospital looked up from the paperwork on her desk with a frown. When she had accepted the request of the Third Hokage to return to the village and run its hospital she had not expected the position to entail this much paperwork. Not only did she have all of this to take care of, she had not just one, but two apprentices to train. Of course, by now Shizune was a more than competent medic-ninja in her own right and was helping shoulder some of Tsunade's administrative duties, but this was still far too much work to do and far too little time for drinking and gambling. Now someone was calling her for something not on her already busy schedule? It had better be good.

"What is it?" she asked in a tone that reflected her current mood.

"There's something in the morgue we think you should look at, my Lady," the ninja said with a slight bow of his head. Tsunade was thought of almost as royalty within Konoha. She was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, making her a blood relative of the first two of the village's greatest leaders as well as being a direct student of the current leader.

"In the morgue?" she asked with a hint of surprise.

"Yes, milady. There's something…odd about some of the bodies that were recently found."

"Well, what is odd about them?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, they don't have any faces."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>Mihoshi Kuramitsu prowled the halls of Konoha's Ninja Academy watching the team of <em>genin<em> from her village. There were actually three teams from the Village Hidden in the Clouds this time around, and Mihoshi was rather happy about being able to chat with them. Especially since one of them was a fellow _kunoichi_, or female ninja! They could talk all day and all night!

The team had seemed a little less enthused about it.

Truthfully, Mihoshi knew that this was taking away from time she should have had to be looking for H.A.W.K.S. and fulfill her mission as a hunter-nin, but it would look odd if a ninja sent to oversee their genin didn't turn up for the actual exams. So, she was in there with them, acting as a shadow watching over the group as _jounin_ teachers were permitted. She couldn't interfere, but she could watch, which was a great way to enjoy the situation. It had only been five years before that she were taking her own _chunin_ exam. It almost brought tears of nostalgia to her eyes.

Mihoshi certainly wished her exam had been in Konoha instead of Suna, the Village Hidden in the Sand. She just loved all the trees, vegetation, and wildlife that roamed around the Leaf Village. I mean, she had seen a rabbit nosing around the belongings of some of the other teams. It was so cute and fluffy! And an animal with a nose as cute as that could be as nosy as it wanted. Best of all, there was even a hawk perched up in a stairway, sometimes flying around to look down at all the different ninja teams with its sharp eyes. What a majestic bird.

Of course, she hadn't been too thrilled when her own team discovered a slug sitting on their scroll. She had no idea how the thing got there, but it was so totally gross. That was really the only bad thing about the exams so far.

Mihoshi saw an orange clad ninja with spikey yellow hair and the broadest grin imaginable jumping through the halls along with a couple others, a girl with pink hair and a scowling boy in blue shirt with black hair. They were all so young, they had to be a complete rookie squad. And the blond-haired boy was just soooo adorable. Sure, he was surely a few years too young for Mihoshi, but there was nothing against the ninja code about that.

And there the team went again, in a completely different direction. Or maybe the three all had twins? She couldn't be sure. A moment later, either they were incredibly fast, or she was seeing at least three identical teams. Mihoshi put her finger to her lips. Come to think of it, hadn't she seen that cute orange-wearing ninja everywhere?

In fact, just as she was thinking of that, she saw the blond one quickly run into a classroom to join with his two teammates and another team. Yep, orange-wearing ninja with yellow hair and…whisker marks? There was the blue shirted boy with what she knew to be the Uchiha crest on the back of it, though she thought that clan had been mostly wiped out a few years back. There was also that girl in a red dress with bright pink hair. The other team was talking with them, a girl with very large, round eyes, a boy wearing a trenchcoat that covered him up almost completely, and…a silver-haired ninja with glasses!

Mihoshi left her _genin_ team, who at this point probably weren't even aware she was still trailing them, and listened outside the door. She heard the pink-haired girl call out a name. "KA—" Mihoshi's eyes widened.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>"First of all, let's establish that neither of our teams are targeting the other," Kabuto said with a smile. "Since we know that we are not after your scroll, thanks to Hinata," the silver-haired <em>genin<em> said with a quick smile towards his teammate, "we'll make the first move so that you can know you have nothing to fear from us. We're after a scroll with this symbol on it." Kabuto placed what looked like a playing card down in front of him and touched it. When he lifted his finger, what first appeared to be a blank card now displayed a symbol (圗).

Sakura nodded her head and then drew the symbol Team 7 was looking for. "And this is the symbol we're looking for." (勔)

Kabuto nodded his head. "Then an information exchange. We've copied the scrolls of over ten of our opposing teams. We'll give you three of them in exchange for the location and identity of the team we need to find."

"No deal," Sakura replied with a hard look. "With Hinata's _byakugan_, I'm betting you know the location and identities of more than half of the field. We've only got forty more minutes before the time is up." Sakura smiled and tapped a pair of scrolls at her side. "We've copied a few other teams' scrolls as well, though not as many as your team has. But we need a copy of the scroll of the team we are after, not just information for barter."

"Kabuto," Hinata started a bit timidly, "can't we…"

Kabuto silenced her with a sharp look. "Alright then," he said, adjusting his glasses, "we'll give you a copy of one other scroll and the names and identities of the team you are after. But first, you must locate the team with this symbol on it. We know it's not anyone from the Leaf or the Stone. Other than that…"

Sakura looked to Naruto. Who promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kabuto raised his glasses with an intrigued look. Two minutes later, the orange-clad ninja burst back into the room, panting.

"Password?" Sakura asked expectantly as her teammate closed the door.

"Uh, right, yeah. Something about when a ninja strikes?"

Sakura nodded her head. "That'll do. So, you've got their information?"

A great wide grin broke out on Naruto's face. "Sure thing. I think I pissed off half the teams from the Sand and the Cloud, but I found out who you guys are looking for. It's actually one of the teams from the Mist. They're up on the fourth floor using some kind of cloud that they can see through but nobody else can to snatch scrolls off teams they lure up there."

"Excellent," Kabuto said with a wicked smile. "Here's the scroll I promised you," he said handing the parchment over to Sakura.

As soon as Sakura touched the scroll, she knew something was wrong. She found she couldn't move, even to speak.

With a quick, deft move, the silver-haired _genin_ plunged his fist forward, straight into Sasuke's chest. Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto tried to react, but before he could he was caught in Kabuto's grip by the wrist and felt some sort of strange energy flow into him. He staggered forward, barely able to move.

"As for the second part of our agreement," Kabuto said, the devious smile still on his face, "well, _**we**_ are the team you are supposed to take the information from. But now that I've put you under my paralysis _jutsu_, you won't be able to move for more than thirty minutes. By that time, it will be too late."

Naruto struggled against the paralysis he felt, able to move fractionally, but little more than that. '_Um, Ryoko_,' Naruto thought in his mind. '_A little help here. Please?_' His only answer was silence.

A frantic Hinata stood there, speechless, with no clue of what she should do.

Shino, on the other hand, merely turned his head towards his new team leader. "Kabuto, Team 7 is not after the scroll we carry. Your actions are not logical."

The evil grin suddenly left Kabuto's face, replaced by a much more friendly one, and he made a hand sign releasing the _jutsu_. "Just kidding! But you guys should be more careful who you trust. I knew that other Sasuke was a shadow clone after I saw Naruto's disappearance. Very clever way to gather information." He placed a card on the floor which he then revealed to show the symbol they were looking for along with another team and their respective skills listed on it. "This is the team you are really looking for, a group of Iwa ninja. Shouldn't be too hard for you guys to get a copy of their scroll."

Sakura immediately felt the paralysis leave after Kabuto released her and she barely managed to catch herself from falling over. "KABUTO!" she yelled, furious at the other ninja for pulling such a successful prank.

That was when the door burst in and a dark skinned, blond-haired _kunoichi_ flew through the air to land a kick on Kabuto.

Kabuto was knocked backwards, but deftly twisted his body and remained standing up, coming to a stop still standing vertically. The look on his face was not of pain, but one of annoyance.

"In the name of the Allied Shinobi Alliance," the blond girl was saying, "I arrest you for crimes against humanity, nature, and the people of the Elemental Nations!" She pointed her finger at Kabuto menacingly, "You have the right to…to…" she paused, looked away from her target and put one finger in her mouth as she tried to think of the rest of what she was supposed to say. She was duty bound to read him his rights, well, that is if she hadn't killed him first.

"Hey, what is this about? Why are you attacking Kabuto like that? Attacking other teams is against the rules!" Naruto complained as he shook his head, still feeling the effects of what Kabuto had done to him earlier.

"I am Mihoshi Kuramitsu, Hunter-nin of the Allied Shinobi Alliance. Under the articles of the Allied Shinobi Treaty, I am here to arrest or terminate the wanted criminal…wait…did you say Ka**BU**to? I thought you said…I thought…oh…oh no. I really messed up." Mihoshi suddenly began to sink down to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes as realization struck her. "I went after the wrong man."

"I'll say you did," Kabuto said, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

A moment later, he was across the room, his foot smashing into Mihoshi's stomach. The blond woman flew through the air to smash into the wall next to the classroom door. Before she could even begin to recover, Kabuto was beside her again, smashing her with a brutal fist to her ribs that knocked her sideways and made her spit blood as she tried to tumble to her feet and get away from the wall.

Kabuto was fast. Faster than any of the _genin_ in the room could even begin to keep up with.

Mihoshi, however, was a hunter-nin, an elite ninja on par with a _jounin_. After the second blow struck her, she managed regain her footing and backpedal while getting her fingers up into a hand sign which she then twisted to point at her attacker. "_Reezaa__bimu no jutsu_!" she called out as she fired a burst of blue chakra light at the man now attacking her. She missed, only managing to put a hole in the wall behind her.

Kabuto gave her a cold smile as he paused in his attack for a moment.

Mihoshi continued firing bursts at the young man, but it was no use. He was just too quick for her to manage to hit with her technique, especially when she turned her head to the side and began to fire blindly. Kabuto reached where she was standing before she could fire another burst of her Laser Beam Technique. With a blindingly fast backhand, the glasses wearing ninja knocked the hunter-nin back to the floor. Then he raised one hand into the air, chakra forming around the hand visibly. "And now, you will die for your mistake." His hand plunged down.

Only to be interrupted by a blaze of orange energy that crackled against the blue of the chakra scalpel. The energy stopping Kabuto's attack flowed in the form of a sword back to Naruto's hands. Naruto stood between Kabuto and the fallen hunter-nin. For a moment, the two pushed against each other with both their respective chakra weapons and their eyes locked together.

"What's your problem, Kabuto?" Naruto growled out. "She made a mistake. There's no need to go that far over just getting kicked like that."

After another moment, the powerful chakra around Kabuto's hand winked out and he took a step back, the intense look on his face suddenly replaced by a smile that didn't touch his eyes in the least. "You're right, Naruto. Maybe I did get carried away. But when an enemy attacks you, you've got to be ready to kill them. And she," he said pointing to Mihoshi, "is not a Leaf ninja. But I won't fight _you_ over this." With that, Kabuto moved to the door. "Shino. Hinata. We need to get to the fourth floor." Just before stepping out, Kabuto looked back towards Naruto and the rest of Team 7 with a friendly face, just as if none of that had just happened. "Good luck getting the information from your target; I really hope you guys make it to the second challenge." And then he was out the door.

Sakura looked over at Naruto in surprise. She didn't know he could be that strong. She hadn't seen him use that orange blade technique, either. The entire incident was confusing.

"We should go find Sasuke," she managed to get out. "We need to go after our scroll."

Naruto nodded, then walked over to the downed hunter-nin. He offered her a hand.

Mihoshi looked up into the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen. Kind eyes. Eyes of the young man who had just saved her life. She took his hand, her own eyes never leaving his for even a moment. "Th-thank you," she said with a small stammer. "You saved me. Please, what is your name?"

Naruto felt just a little embarrassed at the woman's attention. Mihoshi was around five years older than him, old enough to have a fully developed figure, something Naruto was just beginning to notice in girls. "Eh, hehe," he put his hand behind his head. "It was nothing. Just part of being an awesome ninja. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the next Hokage! Beli—"

Before he finished his sentence, the blond had Naruto wrapped up in a massive hug.


	9. Chapter 9: No Need for Failure

**Chapter 9: No Need for Failure**

It had been some time since Naruto had visited the private space within his mind and discovered the Nine Tailed Fox sealed within him. He had spent a lot of time there during his lonely years growing up, but now he was too busy training with Team 7 or dealing with Ayeka and Ryoko back at his new home to want or need to go there. If he had returned now, though, he would have noted a change in the place. Where before it had been full of sunshine and pleasant weather, a calm and peaceful wood where he could find tranquility and escape from the hostile world, the forest of his soul was now agitated and a feeling of menace was slowly filling it up. Above the tops of the trees, the clouds were darkening and a stiff wind blew through the thickness of the woods in a foreboding manner.

At the center of the growing disturbance was the dark cave within Naruto's mind which had once been completely sealed shut, but now was open. Were Naruto there to see what was happening within his own mind and soul, he would have perceived garish red light emanating from the mouth of the cave and felt a continuous gust of foul wind blowing out from the depths within which the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed inside of him. If Naruto had crawled down within the forbidden cave once more, he would have come to where the second seal stood, and if he looked carefully, seen a small crack running through the seal, and a small hole that had developed in the stone sealing wall. And were he to have looked through that hole through the second seal, he might have seen bits of dust where another hole was forming in the third seal beyond.

But he was not there to see it or sense it.

Only Ryoko was there. And the Nine-Tailed Fox, deep within the confines of Naruto's soul, was very agitated. Her astral form twisted and turned within the furthest reach of the ninth seal, moaning in a fevered state. Her form was surrounded by a red haze, a cloud of energy that flowed around and through her. She moaned again, this time calling Naruto's name. It was the sound of a plea, and of desperation.

She curled her form into a ball.

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><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

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><p>Back in Konoha's Ninja Academy, time for the first exam challenge was up. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura joined the other <em>genin<em> teams in the same room they had met in to get their instructions from Inoichi at the start of the challenge. Some of the teams which had been there at the start of the challenge were now absent, apparently disqualified for breaking the rules on directly attacking other teams or for some other such cause. Just over a hundred teams from all the participating ninja villages were left, some looking extremely confident, others looking dejected, or even murderous.

Teams that didn't return the scroll they had been given out would fail, and they all knew it.

Team 7 sat together near the front, an unreadable look on each of their faces. Sasuke was looking to one side, as if he didn't care what was to come next, ignoring the looks other teams were giving them. Sakura's and Naruto's faces held looks of seriousness and determination, in Naruto's case a stark contrast from his earlier demeanor. In just a minute they would find out what teams would move on, and what teams would be out of the competition.

"Alright everyone," Inoichi's voice boomed through the room. As soon as his voice was heard, there were a dozen 'poofs' of smoke that revealed a number of tables with a _chunin_ examiner sitting behind each one. "This is the end of the first challenge. Line up with your team behind the closest examiner table. Turn in your original scroll and the scroll of your target. Any team that does not have both their own scroll and the scroll of their target team FAILS." The middle-aged ninja, head of the Yamanaka clan, paused for a moment, watching the teams assembled before him.

"Also, turn in any additional information you have gathered to the examiners as well. Points will be awarded for information on opposing teams. One point for knowing the scroll another team is carrying. Two points for knowing the scroll any other team was trying to target. Ten points for having obtained the full contents of any other team's scroll. Any team with a score of less than twenty automatically **FAILS**. The bottom ten scores of the remaining teams also **FAIL**."

There was murmuring from the crowd of ninja as they began lining up. There had been nothing mentioned about points for gaining additional information at the start of the challenge. Quite a few teams were disgruntled about this. Those teams which had done the bare minimum to obtain their target scroll would be hard-pressed to come up the additional seven points to meet the minimum 20, not to mention not be in the bottom 20 remaining.

Team 7 lined up behind the table nearest them. They noticed Team 8 with Hinata, Shino, and Kabuto ahead of them and to the left. Team 10 was, characteristically, in the back a few rows over. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino would wait until the end, with Shikamaru finding the entire process to be too troublesome to try and move to the front. Sakura noted the team with the weird guy in green spandex, Rock Lee, was at the front of a line along with his two teammates. It was going to be a tense few minutes as teams turned in their scrolls and other information.

In the line just to the right of Team 7, standing in about the same place in line as them, was a team of ninja from the Hidden Village of the Stone. That group was clearly smirking at them, openly mocking the Konoha ninja. They were the ones who had impersonated Princess Ayeka and taken the scroll from Naruto.

"Such a pathetic group," the one who had actually taken the scroll from Naruto commented loudly, so that the ninja teams in the vicinity couldn't help but hear. "If they're the best _genin_ the Hidden Leaf can offer then this village is even weaker than I thought. And dumber."

Naruto bristled at the comment. "HEY! You can't say stuff like that about us!"

"Naruto," Sasuke stopped his teammate. "Forget about it. These guys aren't worth our time. They won't be making it to the next round." The two groups were nearing the front of their respective lines. Sasuke looked unconcerned.

The Rock ninja bristled in response. "On the contrary, boy," the taller of the rock ninja said contemptuously. "**We're** going to be the group going on while you _losers_ will fail. Thanks to that moron in orange there."

"**NEXT**!" the examiner at the table in front of the ninja from the Village Hidden in the Rocks called out, and that team stepped forward. First they handed over their scroll, then a list of what they had found out about any opposing team, and then the scroll from one other team, their target. With one more scroll, they were a lock to advance. The one handing the scrolls over fumbled through his pouch. Then he looked over towards his teammate, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Hey, Moki, where's that scroll we got from those Hidden Leaf losers?"

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><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

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><p><em>"Princess Ayeka?" Naruto answered.<em>

_"Yes, it's me. Do you mind if I come in?"_

_"Oh, sure," the boy's cheerful voice called out. "I'm not really supposed to let anyone in here, but I guess it's alright if it's just you, Princess Ayeka."_

_The princess stepped in with her long purple tresses flowing behind her in a serene, almost regal expression on her face. Naruto quickly closed the door behind her._

_"Oh, Naruto, I'm so happy to see you," she said with a smile. "But where are Sasuke and Sakura? Shouldn't they be with you?"_

_Naruto crossed his arms and looked away, as if annoyed with answering the question. "They left me in here to guard the scroll while they went out to find our target."_

_"Oh, so, you have your team's scroll? Can I see it?" she asked with a sweet voice._

_"Uh, sorry Princess Ayeka, but I'm not supposed to let anyone see the scroll at all. If Sasuke or Sakura found out I even let you in this room they'd probably kill me."_

_Ayeka's face turned into a pout. "But Naruto, it's me. I'm sure Sakura or Sasuke wouldn't mind."_

_Naruto's face turned into a frown, before the blond-haired _genin_ handed the scroll over. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Princess Ayeka. I guess they wouldn't mind if __**you**__ saw the scroll. And the proctor did tell us to take care of you while you were out observing the event."_

_As soon as Ayeka's hands closed around the scroll, the classroom filled with thick smoke. Naruto called out for Ayeka to take cover, but when the smoke cleared, Naruto was in the classroom alone. Ayeka was gone. And so was the scroll._

_Outside the classroom, the form of Ayeka vanished in a puff of smoke as one of the participating ninja from the Land of Rock appeared in her place. The ninja twirled the scroll he had obtained in his hand before leaping away quickly to join the rest of his team. The trio of Rock ninja smirked to themselves. _

_Back in the classroom, Naruto smirked as well. Before vanishing in a puff of smoke to be replaced by Sasuke Uchiha, his eyes glowing red with the power of his _sharingan_. He had easily seen through their disguise. He doubted they had seen through his._

"_Good luck, Naruto," the raven-haired boy said quietly to the empty room._

_The Iwa ninja team quickly made their way to an empty classroom on the bottom floor. Two of the ninja from the Land of Rock remained outside of the classroom. The third stepped inside, carefully scanning the room for anyone hidden within. It was completely empty. Once they secured it, nobody would be able to get in._

"_Here, Moki," the ninja who had impersonated the Princess said. "You take the Leaf brats' scroll as well. Nobody will be able to get through your earth-style barrier. Mashiro and I will hunt down our target while you make sure we keep what we've already got and keep our scroll safe."_

"_Right," Moki responded with a smirk, closing the door. The Rock ninja put his bag on the table then turned towards the front of the classroom before slamming his fist to the ground and calling out his technique. Immediately, stone flowed up to cover the door, walls, floor, and ceiling, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier. Moki sat cross-legged on the ground, keeping his hand on the floor and concentrating on keeping the barrier up. It was an exhausting technique, but he would have no problem maintaining it for the remaining half hour._

_After a couple minutes, there was a quiet "_poof_" from Moki's bag._

_Naruto stood there where the scroll Sasuke had handed over used to be. With a surreptitious look to the spot that the Iwa ninja was sitting, too focused on maintaining his technique to notice the blond-haired ninja's transformation, Naruto silently landed behind the table and pulled out a small vial of red liquid, the blood of the original Naruto, which the clone then poured onto his thumb. The orange wearing ninja then pressed his hand to the table, channeling just the right amount of chakra, and watched as there was another quiet puff of white smoke. Naruto looked to make sure he hadn't been detected. The Iwa ninja didn't even glance back._

_Naruto grinned as the familiar form of Fukyu appeared, munching on a carrot. The rabbit gave Naruto a sly look, showing its open and empty paws to the _genin_ in imitation of a performing magician before pulling a scroll that looked just like one of the mission scrolls from behind its back as if from thin air. The summoned rabbit then placed the scroll in the pack while taking out the Iwa ninja's scroll. Fukyu held the scroll first vertically than turned it horizontally before pushing his hands together as the scroll disappeared, to Naruto's delight. Fukyu took a bow before disappearing in a puff of smoke._

_Naruto, a grin on his face, disappeared the same way._

_Hearing as slight sound, the Iwa ninja turned his head to look behind him. He was too late to notice the disappearing summoned rabbit, the clone, or even the smoke from their departure._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<strong>NEXT<strong>!"

Team 7 stepped up to the counter where a _chunin_ examiner asked them for their scrolls. With a superior looking smirk towards the ninja from the Village Hidden in the Rocks, Sasuke first returned the scroll they had been given.

The Iwa ninja looked at Team 7 in surprise. "That's a fake!" Moki growled. "We took the scroll from that idiot in orange! They fell for our trick so easily it was pathetic. Check their scroll! They're cheating!"

Sasuke shook his head, then turned to address the group of Rock ninja and those around paying attention to the drama, the one who had impersonated Ayeka in particular. "What was pathetic was **your** attempt at deception. You made way too many mistakes for it to have had any hope of succeeding. First of all, your impersonation of the princess was flawed. When you were talking about Sakura and me, you didn't insult us. The real princess would certainly have done that. And she would have called Naruto 'Naruto-_kun_' or 'Lord Naruto', and she would have expected him to call her 'Ayeka-_chan_', not 'princess'.

"Worse, you entered the classroom _without_ an ANBU guard or her personal Juraiyan escort. There's no way the Hokage would have allowed her to be unguarded for even a moment, so your attempt at deception was transparent from the very start." Sasuke's smirk became almost a sneer as his eyes shifted to the blazing red of the _sharingan_. "But your biggest mistake was trying to fool an Uchiha! You never even realized you weren't talking to Naruto, you were talking to **me** the whole time and **I** saw through your illusion as easily as just opening my eyes."

"Oh, and that idiot in orange?" Sakura chimed in as Naruto pulled out the Iwa ninja's scroll with a foxy grin on his face, "Outsmarted all of you. He might be a _baka_ most of the time…"

"Hey!" Naruto complained loudly.

"…but he's the most surprising of all of the _genin_ in Konoha, and he never gives up," she finished, with proud look on her face, surprising Naruto.

Back at the table the Rock ninja were at, the examiner at the table frowned. "What's this?" he asked, before he suddenly started snickering in spite of himself. The snicker soon turned into a full-blown laugh.

"What's so funny?" the Iwa ninja named Mashiro demanded of the Leaf examiner.

"Here, read it yourself," the examiner said, holding up the scroll, the original scroll the Rock ninja were supposed to return, or at least what they had thought had been their scroll.

Instead of the message they were given, there was a cartoonish picture of Naruto standing there holding his fingers up in the victory sign with his tongue sticking out and a stick-figure rabbit beside him munching on a carrot. Printed above it in a large, graffiti-like scrawl were the words: "Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konaha! Leaf Ninja Rule!"

Laughter broke out all around the Rock ninja as all those who had paid attention to the exchange saw just how badly the Iwa team had been out-maneuvered. They were sent packing, shame-faced and swearing an improbable revenge, along with nearly half of the remaining teams.

When all the teams had turned in their scrolls and those who hadn't made the initial cut were escorted out, Inoichi stood up in front of the assembled ninja. "I have a list of twelve teams not already eliminated who had the entire contents of their scrolls turned in for a bonus by other teams. Teams 15, 26, 42, 44, 59, 63, 78, 81, 103, 115, 123, and 162. You **FAIL**. Make your way out of the hall with the rest of the unsuccessful teams."

There was a cry from one of the eliminated teams, an older group of Konoha _genin_ who had just been kicked out. "That's not fair! Nobody mentioned a rule against having another team see our scroll! You can't change the rules after—"

A pair of _chunin_ appeared behind the speaker, one grabbing him by the hair and another giving him a chop to the back of the neck. The protester slumped to the ground, to be carried out by his teammates.

Inoichi stood with his arms crossed. "A _chunin_ must be able to look underneath the underneath. Teams unable to safeguard their own scroll's contents don't deserve to advance." The blond-haired Yamanaka waited until all the failing teams left, or were removed from the hall. Then he turned to address the teams that passed.

"Congratulations to you all on making it through the first challenge of the Chunin Exams. By passing this challenge you showed you have the capacity for teamwork, information gathering, deception, and evasion. These are all important characteristics of ninja squad team leaders." The veteran ninja spared a glance towards the Juraiyan princess standing calmly in the back observing the assembled ninja, before turning his attention back to the successful candidates.

"Some of you may be wondering about the purpose of some of the rules of this challenge. Obviously, the ability to obtain vital information from an opponent, without a battle, is an important shinobi skill. The task you were presented with required the use of stealth and cunning, not just brute force. But the most critical lesson of this challenge was to safeguard whatever intel is placed in your care. In real life situations, ninja are often used as couriers of critical information. We may not know the content of the message we carry, and we often do not know when that intelligence will be sought after by opposing ninja. We never know what the consequences will be if the piece of information entrusted to us should fall into enemy hands. It may cause the failure of our mission, the death of our comrades, or even the destruction of our homes. So, we must protect the information we carry, guard it at all times."

There were murmurs and nods of agreement and understanding among the remaining ninja.

After a moment, Inoichi Yamanka prepared to continue. "And now—"

There was a loud bang, and then the stage area where the proctor and the examiners stood was filled with dense smoke. After a moment, the smoke cleared and a giant white banner was seen displayed on the back wall declaring the name of the proctor for the second challenge. A figure appeared out of the smoke wearing a form-fitting outfit. It was not Anko Mitarashi.

"And now, it is time for the second challenge of the Chunin Exams!" called out a loud voice, preempting Inoichi.

"Guy-Sensei!" came the excited call of Rock Lee.

"Indeed, it is I, Might Guy, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast! I will be the proctor for the second challenge!" Might Guy stood at the front of the stage with his arm extended in classic thumbs-up sign, his teeth sparkling in a smile so bright it literally made a _ping_ sound as the light reflected off of them. He was dressed from head to foot in green spandex, only the traditional Konoha vest distinguishing his manner of dress from Rock Lee, who now likewise gave an identical thumbs up sign.

Sakura and Naruto openly gaped at the man's appearance. His straight bowl-cut hairstyle and incredibly thick eyebrows were nearly a mirror-image of his student's. They had thought Lee looked uniquely weird, but now they could see where he got it from. And it was not an improvement.

"Come on, everybody! You have five minutes to make it to Konoha's main gates! Show me the Power of your Youth!" The eccentric _jounin's_ eyes shown with intensity as he exhorted them to move. "Anyone not at the gate by that time will automatically be eliminated from the challenge," he declared loudly. And then he simply vanished, moving at a speed so great, none of the present _genin_ or even _chunin_ could follow.

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><p><em><strong>Naruto Muyo!<strong>_

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><p>Tsunade looked over one of the defaced corpses in the morgue with a frown. Whoever had done this had done an excellent job of disguising the identity of the victim. And that was exactly why she had to know who these murdered ninja were.<p>

"Here you are, Tsunade-sama," her personal assistant said with a bow, placing a large set of books in front of the blond hospital director.

"Thank you, Shizune," she acknowledged to her apprentice. Unfortunately, she would have to do without the assistance of her newer apprentice, as Sakura was busy competing in the Chunin Exams. It would take an hour or so longer without the additional help.

"It's a good thing you had all the ninja have a dental checkup when you took over the duty of the hospital. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had this record available," the dark haired medical ninja was saying as her mentor began comparing the teeth of the corpses to the records they had made just a few months earlier.

Over the course of several hours, Tsunade and Shizune flipped through several volumes of records, carefully comparing the dental records to those of the village shinobi. Finally, Tsunade's hand hit the examining table with a bang. Her assistant looked up, only slightly startled. She had long ago gotten used to her mentor's habit of pounding on something when she made a discovery.

"I have a match. This corpse is of one of our _genin_," Tsunade declared.

"I wasn't aware that we were missing anyone," Shizune replied with concern.

"We aren't. We must notify the Hokage at once. This is the body of someone who is supposed to still be alive. Someone is out there right now in the Chunin Exams," Tsunade stood up and began striding towards the door, "pretending to be Kabuto Yakushi."

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_ _  
><em>


	10. Chapter 10: No Need for a Race

**Chapter 10: No Need for a Race**

In a clearing in the forest a few miles outside of Konoha, teams of ninja began gathering, awaiting instructions from the strangely dressed and strangely mannered proctor of the second challenge, Might Guy. Team 7 had been one of the first to arrive at the clearing with a large banner declaring it the gathering spot, and now they were just waiting for the rest of the teams to begin showing up. The former Team 8 with Hinata, Shino, and Kabuto had arrived, as had the proctor's own team. The trio of Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru arrived a bit later, the rookie teams of Konoha all grouping relatively close together.

Naruto waved to the other teams from Konoha, smiling broadly. "I knew you guys would make it!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Only Naruto would be so cheerful when everyone else was taking these tests deadly serious. Or at least, as a drag they'd rather not deal with but had no choice, as was Shikamaru's case.

"Yosh!" the loud voice of Rock Lee piped up. "Yes, our flames of youth are shining brightly. And yours are, as well, Naruto-san! I am certain that your team will again be among those that pass this challenge. And I, Rock Lee, Konoha's Magnificent Green Beast will be there to support you." He gave the thumbs up sign. "And now, Sakura-chan, you will see what a splendid ninja I am, even if I cannot use _ninjutsu_ or _genjutsu_! Then we will surely go on a date!"

For her part, Sakura's face flushed in embarrassment. She glanced over towards Sasuke to see if he were paying attention to what the green spandex-wearing ninja had said. As soon as she looked over at him, Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Hinata plucked up her courage and walked up towards Naruto. "Um, I'm very happy you passed the last challenge, Naruto-kun," she started, before becoming self-conscious. "I—I mean, it is nice to see you. I mean…" She lowered her head, back down, her confidence spent.

"Oh, hey, Hinata-chan!" Naruto replied cheerfully. "Glad your team got your target in time! We totally rocked in getting _our_ scroll. I was awesome!" Naruto boasted proudly.

"Yes, I'm sure you were," Hinata said looking back up with a meek smile, completely sincere.

"You betcha! And now I can't wait to show off all my new techniques in this new challenge. It's gonna be great!" He smiled widely, enjoying the fact that he wasn't being contradicted or put down. "You know, I bet you're going to be awesome too," he said, patting Hinata on the back of her shoulder unexpectedly and then giving her the thumbs-up sign. "You know, I used to think you were quiet and weird, but I really like people like you!"

Before Hinata could faint from Naruto's sudden touch and direct praise, another team of ninja jostled into them as they moved out of the way of someone coming through.

Two loud, slightly inhuman sounding voices called out, "Make way for Princess Ayeka! Make way for the princess of Jurai!" Naruto and his team were about to move out of the way as two wooden blocks, floating above the ground came barreling through, only for the voice of the princess to interrupt.

"Azaka, Kamidaka! Hold here for a moment."

"Yes, ma'am!" the two sentient constructs declared in unison before floating off to the side and out of the way.

"Oh, hey Princess Ayeka!" Naruto greeted with a typical grin on his face. "Sorry we were slow getting out of your way, didn't know you were coming through."

"Oh, nonsense, Lord Naruto," the princess said, dismissing Nauto's apology. "You are not some common person needing to give way before your betters." Ayeka gave a sniff and gave a pointed luck towards Sakura and Sasuke. "It is good that I can see you before the start of this second challenge and congratulate you on your success. I am ever so pleased that you and your team have passed."

Naruto, oblivious to the slight the princess was making towards his teammates, just grinned and put his hand behind his head as he tended to do when chagrined or embarrassed. "Yeah, it was awesome. And that chakra sword _jutsu_ you've been teaching me worked!" Naruto shot a dark look over towards Hinata's teammate, Kabuto, remembering how he had needed the technique against him.

"Oh, no need to thank me, Lord Naruto," Ayeka said with false modesty. "It really was all your hard work that is paying off."

"I haven't got it mastered yet, but it's still awesome." Naruto frowned for a moment, "Um, Ayeka-_chan_, why are you speaking all formal with me now? I mean, with the 'Lord' stuff and all again? Aren't we still friends?"

"Oh, of course we are!" Ayeka said with a reassuring smile. "And I, of course, do not mind it when _you_ use familiar terms of address with me," she added placing one hand tentatively on Naruto's forearm for a moment before withdrawing it self-consciously. "However, I want others to know that they should not expect to speak so familiarly with me…or with you."

"Oh?" a familiar voice suddenly. "And why is it you get to be so familiar with Naruto, Princess?"

Naruto suddenly found himself with a woman's arm wrapped around his neck. And the upper half of the woman pressed up against his back. Ryoko floated in the air horizontally with a bit of a hazy reddish aura glowing around her. Her voice was half-amused, half threatening, a harder edge to it than normal.

"Lord Naruto and I are quite close, Demon Fox," Ayeka replied haughtily. "Closer than a creature like you could ever hope to get to someone like him."

Ryoko, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox growled, her eyes glowing red momentarily, before fading back to their normal amber color.

"Close?" the voice of Hinata broke in from the side, suddenly agitated. "Um, how close are you and Naruto-kun?"

Ryoko looked over to Hinata and gave her an appraising glance, the demon fox's arm unwrapping from Naruto. "And who are you to be asking about who Naruto is close to?" Ryoko fixed her gaze on the pale eyed, dark-haired _kunoichi_.

Hinata looked at the glaring fox demon and cast her eyes down, not quite ready to stick up for herself. It had taken her a lot just to speak up.

"Hey, Ryoko, be nice to Hinata! She's a nice girl," Naruto demanded. This caused Hinata to instantly look back up, her adoring eyes gazing over at the blond haired hero she loved.

Before things could go any further, there was a sudden commotion as the ninja around them scattered further, cursing and muttering. Suddenly, a team of dark skinned shinobi wearing forehead protectors with the symbol of the Cloud Village appeared, stumbling through the gathered ninja, with a familiar blond haired hunter-nin at the front.

"Oh, dear. Sorry, there. Didn't mean to come crashing into everyone." Mihoshi came to a stop just in front of Naruto, Ryoko, Ayeka, Hinata, and the rest of them who had drawn closer together. "Oh, hi there! Didn't see you all through the crowd!"

"Oh, hi there, Mihoshi!" Naruto greeted back warmly. "Good to see you again."

Ryoko took one look at the ditzy blond with her tanned skin and innocent eyes and took an instant dislike to her. Ryoko's eyes narrowed. "Hey! Just who are you and why are you here after Naruto, huh?

Surprisingly, Shino spoke up, agreeing with Ryoko's distrust, "It is odd that a Cloud Village _jounin_ would be at the second challenge of this exam. I thought you would be in interrogation with the ANBU."

"Oh," Mihoshi said brightly, "your ANBU division had received notice from the Allied Shinobi Alliance office that I had entered your village on a sanctioned mission. After I mistakenly attacked your teammate and everything settled down, I was taken to your TI department, but as soon as they found out my identity they let me go. Your Hokage is a really nice man."

"Yeah, he's the greatest, right?" Naruto chipped in.

"He even gave me permission to observe the second challenge. Hopefully I can find out the identity of H.A.W.K.S. during the examination process. But, right now," Mihoshi turned to the three Cloud _genin_ who were glaring at their 'leader' with disgust, "I'm just here to see my cute little team off and wish them well."

"Well, then, get on with it and get away from us," Ryoko growled out irritably.

"Oh, right, sure," Mihoshi nodded. But then she looked as if she had forgotten something before turning to Naruto, her eyes round and soulful. "Oh, I also wanted to say thank you to Naruto for protecting me." She glanced over to where Kabuto stood with Shino. The silver-haired _genin_ stood observing the meeting with a slight smirk. "It was all my fault and I can understand why your fellow-Konoha ninja was so upset and attacked me…but then you…you saved me."

"Aww, it was nothing, Mihoshi-chan, don't worry about it," Naruto said with a grin.

That was when Mihoshi suddenly glomped on him, tears pouring down her face. "Oh, thank you, thank you! I'll never forget what you did for me back there."

Sasuke's eyes went wide at the open display of affection from a star-struck female—attention which was not directed at him. He watched as Naruto's happy grin suddenly became a wild look of shock and surprise, and a slight smile began to tug at the corner of the Uchiha's mouth. He looked on with continued amusement as Naruto tried to politely extricate himself from the embrace without pushing the girl away too harshly.

He wouldn't need to, however.

Along with Sasuke, there were four girls there who saw how Mihoshi was holding Naruto. None of them were at all amused. Sakura was confused and conflicted. It wasn't so much that she had a thing for Naruto, certainly nothing like she had for Sasuke, but…well, she didn't like the idea of some other girl touching her teammate. Naruto was supposed to chase her, Sakura, not spend his attention on crazy ninja from Cloud, or princesses, or fox demons, or even obsessed Hyuuga heiresses! Hinata, for her part, felt her face turn red once again, but this time it was not from embarrassment or shyness. It was pure jealousy. Half a year before she wouldn't have dared to feel possessive of Naruto, but now…now she saw another girl making a move on the man who had saved her life and she did not like it. No, she didn't like it at all.

And Ayeka and Ryoko?

"You…you get your hands off of Lord Naruto!" Ayeka screeched, her face flushing red with anger. "And your hussy chest as well!"

For once, the Nine-Tailed Fox was in perfect agreement with the princess. "You leave Naruto-kun alone, you dark-skinned Cloud vixen!" Ryoko roared, grabbing Mihoshi by the shoulders and physically ripping her away from Naruto.

A startled Mihoshi Kuramitsu suddenly found herself surrounded by three glaring women who were either powerful princesses, deadly ninja, or psychotic demon foxes. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I just got so carried away. I know it was rude of me to jump on him like that. I just…I just felt so grateful to him for saving me."

The glares dimmed a little bit for a moment. They had to admit that they'd all feel grateful to someone for saving their lives as well. hard to blame her for that.

Carefully, Naruto stepped back away from the females who were now grouped dangerously close together. Unconsciously, Naruto moved towards the apparent safety of the other gathered males. Shino stood there stoically, while Sasuke watched in fascination as things went from smoldering to explosive. As things heated up, Sasuke gave a smirk over towards his blond haired teammate.

"I know you have all known him much longer than I have," Mihoshi acknowledged. "But, well, he's just so cute and kind, and awesome! And he saved my life! I think…I think he might be the one for me!"

Now that, that they could blame her for. There was an immediate cry of outrage.

"Hey!" Hinata snapped, her normally, demure sweet voice becoming a shrill, scathing tone. "You're not the only one that he has risked his life for! He saved me too, and when Naruto nearly died to protect me in that horrible ice mirror prison I didn't jump all over him like that. And I've liked him longer than _any_ of you have!"

"You mean, 'stalked' him longer than any of us have," Sakura sniped.

"Oh, you just go on back to your own victim, Pinky, and leave Naruto to me," Hinata sniped right back.

"Oh, like any of you have a chance with Lord Naruto," Ayeka huffed. "None of you even know how hopelessly out your league he is. Someone of his pedigree would never sully himself with the likes of you."

"Oh, don't even try that," Sakura huffed indignantly.

"And I happen to be the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, one of Konoha's most prestigious bloodlines," Hinata snapped back, whirling on the princess, poking her finger into Ayeka's chest forcefully. "So don't you think you are going to just steal him away because you are some princess from a village nobody has ever heard of."

"I think you're all forgetting something," growled out Ryoko's voice. "Naruto is mine. None of you can have him!"

"Oh, we'll see about that!" Ayeka, Hinata, and Mihoshi all said in unison as they turned their united glowers on the demon fox.

Naruto had shut his ears off to the argument shortly after it started, willing himself to not hear what was being said. Mihoshi really _liked_ him? And Hinata, too? And it seemed like, maybe Ayeka did? And of course there was that crazy fox, Ryoko! It was too much. And...and…**four** girls! But, what about Sakura? She even seemed to be in on this. What was he going to do?

Sasuke, however, had taken it all in and was loving every second of it. At first the Uchia was just trembling slightly, but that soon turned into a quiet smirking laugh, which turned into an outright chuckle. It had been years since Sasuke had laughed like that.

"Is…is this what this always feels like to you, Sasuke? What should I do? I can't like all of them! And if I pick just one…" Naruto asked his raven-haired teammate, overwhelmed by the bickering that was going on over him.

"Hn," Sasuke snorted with a smirk, but the tone of the sound was different than his usual non-committal snort. This was warm and full of commiseration. Instead of turning away, Sasuke turned to watch how Naruto was taking it, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Not getting any help from the Uchiha, Naruto turned to Shino.

The Aburame bug-using ninja just offered a shrug. "You're doomed."

Naruto's shoulders slumped.

After a moment, Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave him a brotherly look. "Welcome to the club, dope."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**

* * *

><p>It took a few minutes, but the rest of the teams arrived, even as the "discussion" between the girls continued heatedly.<p>

"I hate to break up such a youthful conversation," boomed the upbeat baritone of Might Guy, "but we need to get this challenge underway!" He gave a thumbs-up sign and a wide smile that revealed all of his perfect, gleaming teeth. "Princess Ayeka, please join me up here on the stand."

The princess of Jurai turned her head from the other women and, with a 'hmph' worthy of an Uchiha, made her way to the front where a small raised stone dais had been formed with an earth _jutsu_. Flanked by her two wooden guardians and dressed in silken finery, she was the image of serenity. Until she cast a furious glance behind her to glare at the women with which she had just been arguing.

"Alright, listen up everyone! For the second task, we're gonna have a race!" Guy said with a smile on his face.

"Yosh!" came the excited exclamation from Guy's look-alike student with a fist-pump. "I will show the world the fires of my youth! What an excellent test of necessary ninja skills!"

"Right you are, Lee!" Might Guy encouraged his beloved student, "However, this will not be an ordinary race. No, no." The green-spandex wearing _jounin_ paused dramatically. "It will be an Amazing Race!"

"Hey!" one of the ninja from the Village Hidden in the Grass spoke up, "How is it fair that the teacher of one of the groups is the proctor for this exam? How do we know you haven't told your team the layout of the course?"

"Guy Sensei would not do something so underhanded!" Lee shouted back immediately. "Our sensei knows that such a cheating tactic would not truly prepare us for the challenges of being shinobi!"

"While what my most youthful student said is true," Guy said, still smiling, "our esteemed guest from the Hidden Grass does have a point. I was only asked to proctor this second challenge because the original proctor became unavailable at the last minute. To ensure that the tests are fair and impartial, I have a co-proctor who has helped design half of the roadblocks for this race."

"Yo," a very casual and bored looking ninja said with a wave of one hand when he appeared in puff of smoke.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Nauto and Sakura shouted out in unison.

"What do you mean, roadblocks?" a gruff sounding ninja from the village of the Hidden Sound demanded.

"I'm glad you asked that!" Guy said enthusiastically. "Around this village are eight different checkpoints each team must pass through to continue onward. At each checkpoint is a special task that must be accomplished before you are sent on to the next part of the challenge! My Eternal Rival, Kakashi, will explain more about this."

"At each of these roadblocks, there are actually _two_ tasks. Each task represents an important aspect of shinobi skill crucial to completing missions," Kakashi began. "However, you only need to accomplish one of the two tasks to move on. It is up to you to decide which task you wish to accomplish. At each roadblock there will be a Path of Genius, tasks requiring high levels of skill to accomplish, and a Path of Dedication, tasks requiring great amounts of physical exertion and stamina. In this way, ninja who are naturally talented and those who achieve their ability through hard work both have a path forward. But you must choose."

"And to ensure that there is not any favoritism during any of these tasks," Guy said, picking up right where Kakashi finished, "we have invited _jounin_ instructors from each of the different villages to accompany our _chunin_ examiners at each of the roadblocks."

"The course for this race is just about the distance a typical _chunin_ team could travel in one day," Kakashi informed the gathered _genin_. "The tasks themselves can be very taxing. Completing them can take anywhere from several minutes to several hours, depending on the skills your team possesses and the effort you put into them. So, you will need to pace yourself." A smiling crinkle of Kakashi's eyes warned Team 7 that there was a catch coming up. "However, you won't want to lag behind other teams during the middle of the test. There are special rewards for those who arrive at a challenge first. And penalties for those who arrive late."

"That's right, Kakashi! In this exam hard work will pay-off. At certain roadblock points, the first team to arrive will receive a free pass to skip the challenge altogether!" At this pronouncement from Might Guy, an eager murmur went through the crowd. "At other challenges, the first team to arrive will have the chance to force another team to complete BOTH of the roadblock tasks rather than just one."

"Oh, and one more thing," Kakashi added. "The last team to reach any roadblock fails…"

"Wait," the voice of Shikamaru piped up, clearly interested in this detail. "So, since there are eight of these 'roadblocks', you mean that eight teams will automatically fail?"

"No," Kakashi said with a smile. "**Sixteen** teams will automatically fail. Since half of you will be going one direction and the other half will start in the other direction, each roadblock will eliminate _two_ teams from the challenge. And," Kakashi added, "any team that does not complete the final challenge within two hours after the tenth team to arrive will also be eliminated."

There were some murmurs as the teams remaining after the first round took stock of the situation. There were around sixty teams left, and sixteen would automatically be eliminated. That meant that no more than 44 teams could possibly be eligible for the final challenge.

"So, what are the rules of this competition?" one of the ninja from the Village Hidden in the Rain spoke up. "Will we get eliminated for attacking other ninja like in the first challenge? Or can we do this however we want?"

"Once any team is within the area of any roadblock, interference from other teams is prohibited," Guy explained. "That would be most unyouthful. However, outside of the safe zones, teams are free to use whatever means in order to get ahead." Before a question could be asked, he filled in the information for them. "Death is a risk that all shinobi face. That is why a waiver for this portion of the exam was included with your application paperwork. While outright killing other teams is strongly discouraged, and will be viewed negatively when it comes to selecting _chunin_, it will not automatically eliminate you or another team from competition."

"On the other hand," Kakashi broke in, "if you waste time in pitched battles, the rest of the teams will be racing right past you to the next roadblock. So, trying to take out other teams is not the best strategy for passing this challenge."

"Alright, everyone," Might Guy called out, "even number teams will begin towards the west. Odd number teams will begin towards the east. In ten minutes the examiners at those locations will send a signal up in the air for you to head towards. After that, you will get directions after you complete each challenge. And…"

"Ahem," Ayeka's voice was quiet, but still got the excited proctor's attention.

"Ah, yes," Kakashi instructed hurriedly. "Princess Ayeka of Jurai has asked to accompany one of the Konoha teams. She will be traveling parallel to their path a distance away where she can observe them without interfering. While the team she is traveling with is subject to the same rules as everyone else, the Princess is not to be attacked or impeded under any circumstances. Any attempt to do so will be met with swift punishment." A team of ANBU made themselves visible momentarily, before disappearing once more in a swirl of leaves.

Might Guy gave everyone his patented "good guy" pose. "Let's make this a most youthful and amazing race! And…BEGIN!"

The teams of ninja scattered in a blur, only streaks of color visible as they all disappeared into the foliage.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>**

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><p>Dosu Kinuta leapt from tree branch to tree branch, his chakra infused feet sticking to the surface easily before blasting additional energy to propel him ahead faster and further than mere muscles could make him go. He turned his bandaged head back towards his two teammates, checking to make certain the could keep up with him.<p>

That was the real drawback to the Village Hidden in Sound. Nobody worked with anyone else for any length of time. And nobody trusted anyone else. At any moment one sadistic psychopath or another could order them to slaughter each other for who knows what reason. So, you had to keep your eye on them, and you had to keep much of your ability hidden so that you could use it when you needed it.

But now he was stuck with these two and his life depended on whether or not this team could complete their mission. Kin and Zaku were alright, he supposed. Not monstrous fiends after the terrifying experiments, nor hopeless weaklings as many of the newly "acquired" ninja the Sound Village brought in to shore up their numbers. These two had apparently had training before coming to _Otogakure_, the Village Hidden in Sound, though not nearly as much as he had. Which was why he was the leader of this group. This was his second chance.

It wasn't much of a chance. But it was better than the sure death of being caught and killed by hunter-nin. As long as he didn't fail this mission, he would remain alive. Hopefully, Kin and Zaku's "enhancements" would make up for their lack of real ability.

"What are we waiting for, Dosu?" Zaku's voice was full of impatience and overconfidence. "Let's go track down our target and get on with this. I'm tied of playing hide and seek games with these weaklings!"

Dosu shot his teammate a harsh look. Truthfully, Dosu could understand Zaku's sentiment to an extent. Few of these Elemental Nations ninja had been tested as they had. With the Sound it was always kill or die a painful death. These other _genin_ were still cutting their teeth on silly "missions" which were more like babysitting or doing chores than real ninja work. They lacked that killer instinct that came from fighting to survive every moment. Just as this mission was do or die.

But that was exactly why Dosu could not afford that kind of attitude. "Don't be a fool, Zaku. If we strike now we will have to worry about other teams. Not to mention Konoha's ANBU security. We'll have our chance further out, after one or two of those 'roadblock' tasks."

Kin took this moment to speak up, leaping forward to land beside her team leader stride for stride while they conversed. "Yeah, but what if they get ahead of us? I'm sure we can match their speed," the _kunoichi_ said with a smirk, "but if we get delayed by whatever task we get, we might never catch up to them."

"As if any of those weaklings could do better than us!" Zaku boasted.

"I'm sure we'll stay ahead of them," Dosu agreed without any warmth as he leapt to another tree branch, his companions close behind. "But it doesn't matter. If we fall behind in a task we will just skip the next task and get ahead of them. Passing this exam is not our mission."

Kin laughed evilly, as only someone who had become twisted could. "Those Konoha ninja will never know what hit them. Until it's far too late."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes: <em>**_After a bit of thought, I've changed how I update stories. I was dividing my time between all my open stories, each story getting one chapter before I continued on. When I was on a roll that worked out well enough, but if I fell ill or had a lot of "real life" issues to deal with it led to some pretty long delays between each chapter. It also made it hard to get back into some of my stories and added a lot of writers block._

What I've decided to do now instead is to stick with one story until I complete the story arc or mini-arc I'm working on. That may be just 2 chapters or perhaps 4 or 5, depending on how far I get. That way I won't leave things in the middle of what's happening. So, expect to see several chapters come out on this story over a few weeks, and then a month or so before the next update until the story is completed.

_Now, I have a couple ideas about some of the tasks I'll be including, but for once I think I'd welcome some outside ideas to flesh things out a bit more.  
><em>

_Thanks for your support, and do please leave a review!  
><em>


	11. Chapter 11: No Need for Obstacles

**Chapter 11: No Need for Obstacles**

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura leapt from tree branch to tree branch, speeding through the forest as quickly as they could, attempting to stay ahead of the teams travelling parallel to them. As long as they stayed ahead they had little to worry about with traps, not on this sprint to the first "roadblock" of the challenge, anyway. Any team fast enough to get ahead would want to stretch out their lead even further, so would not be likely to slow down long enough to set any kind of ambush. It would be _after_ this first roadblock they were coming to that they would need to be on their toes as slower teams that completed the tasks ahead of others might attempt to sabotage them.

The trio maintained their breakneck pace, moving so quickly that a civilian looking right at them would see nothing but a streak of color passing by. Soon, though, they came to a clearing and passed by a white chalk line denoting the beginning of the roadblock area. It had been less than ten minutes since they had seen the flare of light spark up from this location.

Sasuke leapt down into the spot first, quickly followed by his teammates. To their surprise, they could see several other teams already there, moving very quickly in another area, already taking on the tasks. Moments later, the princess from Jurai touched down beside the team, flanked by her two wooden guardians. There was a small sheen of perspiration on her forehead from her exertion in keeping up with the _genin_ team.

"Wow, Ayeka-chan, that was pretty good keeping up with us like that," Naruto praised. "I didn't know you were that fit."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," Ayeka accepted with a blush. "It is a princess's duty to be ready to lead the armies of her people into combat if ever the nation is threatened. Your team was quite swift, though. It required more effort than I am used to needing to exert to keep up with your pace."

"Hn," was all that Sasuke responded with.

Sakura, on the other hand, looked over at the princess with challenge in her eyes. The pink-haired _kunoichi_ had been pushing herself beyond her own typical pace in order not to slow her two teammates down. She'd already greatly improved since her Academy graduation in both speed and endurance. It rankled a bit that the princess could keep up with what was essentially her best traveling speed. Sakura vowed not to be the one to slow down her team and hurt Sasuke's chances of earning a promotion. Nor would she let the purple haired vixen impress Sasuke with her abilities. Or outdo her in front of Naruto. No way was she going to be outdone! _Cha!_

"You are the sixth team to arrive," announced one a _chunin_ examiner from the Leaf, standing beside a _jounin_-trainer from the Village Hidden in the Sand. "For your first roadblock, the theme of the challenge will be hidden targets. You may choose either the Path of Genius, where you will be pitted against an obstacle course that will challenge your ability to strike concealed targets using shuriken, or the Path of Dedication, where you will be faced with finding a number of targets buried beneath tons of boulders."

"We'll take the Path of Genius," Sasuke answered for the group without hesitation.

Naruto began to protest the choice, the phrase "not everyone is a genius" ringing out, but Sasuke gruffly pulled him aside and pointed out the activities of two different teams they could see in action out in the challenge areas. On the one side was Might Guy's team with Neji Hyuuga, Ten-Ten, and Rock Lee going through the obstacle course, and another team on the other side, a team from the Hidden Cloud, moving massive boulders using brute strength.

"Look, Naruto," Sasuke hissed as he pointed to the other ninja teams. "We both know you're not the best at shuriken throwing and your shadow clones can get a lot done quickly. But look at how heavy those rocks are. Even with your clones working together we'll have a difficult time lifting and moving them all. The obstacle course will be a lot easier for our team. Even that Rock Lee guy is doing the obstacle course."

"Sasuke's right, Naruto," Sakura chimed in. "We're still only eleven, while a lot of other teams are much older. If we do the other challenge, even if we do finish quickly, we'll all end up worn out and won't have the energy to move quickly to the next one."

Grudgingly, Naruto conceded the point and the team prepared to perform "Path of Genius" task. The trio headed over to the examiner who showed them a flagged off area.

"Alright, here are the rules," the examiner from Suna explained, handing the trio a pouch of ninja stars each, glaring for just a second as he handed Sasuke his pouch. "You will be given these special shuriken which you must use to hit each target. You must make your way through the trapped obstacle course while staying within the boundaries marked with colored flags and hit all targets marked with this symbol." The examiner held up a small cloth with a character for 'target' inscribed on it. "If you miss any target or any of you are struck more than once by any of the traps inside on your way through, you fail the course and must repeat it until you get it right. Do you understand?"

The group nodded. The Suna ninja's stare lingered longer on Sasuke, but despite the cold look, they were sent into one of several obstacle courses that had been marked off. The course was a series of logs and wooden ramparts suspended in the air with rope and wire that they needed to leap between. There were several different paths all running parallel to each other. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto took off along the course one behind the other as soon as they were ordered to do so by the examiner, the Uchiha clan ninja in the lead. As soon as their feet hit the first log, a whirring sound alerted them to incoming projectiles. The trio had to dodge out of the way onto alternate paths, only to hear more weapons being shot their direction each time their feet hit the surface.

"Guys, I think the course is rigged to respond to our weight!" Sakura shouted out in warning as she was forced to dodge back out of the way, landing on the log to the left of the one she was on as lightly as possible. She noticed threads of ninja wire tightening as her teammates landed and then were forced to spring away as shuriken flew out towards them in response.

"Right," Sasuke acknowledged. "So we either need to land so lightly that it doesn't set off the traps, or move fast enough that they miss us."

"Well, I say we go faster!" Naruto shouted and began leaping ahead. "These little traps won't even be able to touch us!" The orange ninja sped ahead, the flying darts and shuriken hitting nothing but the air behind him.

"But if we go too fast we won't be able to see all of the targets!" Sakura protested as she began trying to keep up with her speedier teammates.

Sasuke blurred ahead to catch up to Naruto, darts and ninja stars passing behind him, too slow to reach the speedy _genin_. "Don't worry about the targets, Sakura," Sasuke said looking back with a smirk on his face and the single tomoe spinning around his red, shining eyes. "I've got that covered. You and Naruto just concentrate on not getting hit."

"Like I'm going to let you get all the targets!" Naruto growled out, fingering a pair of the shuriken in one hand with the other held horizontal to his forehead to help him look through the forest for targets. It rankled that this "Path of Genius" obstacle course was much better suited to Sasuke's strengths than his own.

"You just try and keep up, dead last," Sasuke scoffed back, already leaping to the next platform, his eyes carefully scanning the terrain ahead. "There!" he said with a determined look, launching a shuriken towards one of the targets.

As soon as his throwing star hit the target there was an immediate _whoosh_ of needles fired back at his position. The Uchiha rolled out of the way, but the spray of _senbon_ continued on heading straight for Naruto, who was just behind his teammate.

"GYAH!" the orange clad ninja yelled as he leapt straight up in the air, doing a split as the hail of _senbon_ struck into a tree exactly behind where he had just been. "What the hell was that, Sasuke!"

"It looks like the targets are set up to shoot back after they're hit. So, we'll have to avoid the counter-attack after I hit each target," Sasuke answered seriously.

"What do you mean after **you** hit each target?" Naruto answered with a scowl. "I can hit just as many of them as you can."

"Yeah right," Sasuke retorted with a smirk. "Like I said, you and Sakura just try to avoid getting hit. I'll handle this challenge."

The raven-haired ninja continued forward, throwing shuriken at targets as they encountered them and dodging as throwing needles, darts, and shuriken were fired back. Naruto and Sakura were forced to leap aside several times as the trajectory of the ninja weapons carried them right into the trailing pair's path. With a growl, Naruto bounded forward until he was almost level with Sasuke and let loose with a shuriken of his own. There was no responding hail of weapons.

"You missed, loser," Sasuke teased. "Just let me handle the targets. I'm the best of us at this."

"Oh yeah? Well, let's see if you can keep up with ME now!" Naruto retorted as he put his hands in the cross sign. "_Kage bunshin no jutsu_!"

Two dozen Naruto copies poofed into existence and immediately charged recklessly ahead, aiming for what hidden targets they could see. Multiple shouts of "_Kuso_!" were heard as some of the clones missed their targets, but then dozens of _senbon_ and shuriken came showering through the air from up ahead. Clearly not all of the clones had missed. This time Sasuke was forced to leap aside to avoid some of the incoming projectiles.

"All right Naruto, have it your way," Sasuke said as he fixed the blond with a glare. "We'll see which of us can hit the most targets." And then, with a look of determination in his eyes, the blue-shirted _genin_ took off in pursuit of the remaining orange clad clones, leaving the original behind in a burst of speed.

"There!" Sasuke yelled out as he threw multiple shuriken towards multiple targets. With Sasuke's _sharingan_ he could launch attacks from much further away than the clones were attempting, though he paid for the extra distance with a drop in accuracy. As several of the shuriken neared their targets Sasuke made a handsign and called out, "_Kage shuriken no jutsu_!" Each of the shuriken he threw multiplied into dozens, ensuring a strike on the targets even if his initial throw was off.

A few stars also struck through a few of Naruto's clones that were too close to the area Sasuke was throwing towards. "Hey!" Naruto shouted, about to berate Sasuke for his disregard of his clones, before Naruto's eyes suddenly went wide with shock.

"Oh, wow, Sasuke! You're so amaz—" Sakura began before her senses registered what Naruto's clones had just let him know. There were dozens of _poofs_ followed by cacophonous swishing and clanging sounds rushing towards them.

The trees just ahead of them were suddenly blasted by a hail of _senbon_ and shuriken, the leaves on the branches of the trees ahead completely torn to shreds and the bark of their trunks suddenly stripped apart. The heavy impact of the incoming missile weapons was having a cascading effect on obstacle course as every pressure sensor on the logs and platforms were struck, causing them to fire as well, adding to the salvo of ninja weapons that was rapidly crisscrossing the obstacle course in a rain of destruction on its way back towards Team Seven. There was simply nowhere on the course to dodge as the air in the entire area was filled with sharp cutting or piercing objects.

Sasuke hurriedly made his way back to a tree, putting his back against it, and whipped his kunai out. He did his best to deflect as many of the deadly weapons away from himself as he could before he was forced to execute a quick _kawarimi_ technique to replace himself with a nearby log. The space behind him was riddled with shuriken and _senbon_. He cursed to himself as a single needle had broken through his defense to make a gash on his thigh before the onslaught finally subsided.

When the onslaught hit, Naruto was frozen in place. He felt his body pierced dozens of times all at once, his mouth opened in shock from experiencing so many painful hits. And then he came to his senses. He suddenly realized he was completely untouched. Floating in front of him was the smirking form of Ryoko, an energy sword in her hand, swatting away every needle and ninja star with apparent ease. Naruto hadn't noticed the moment she had appeared in front of him because at that exact moment he was remembering the fates of all of his clones all at once. Their memories of what had happened to them had made him feel as if it were happening to him at that exact moment.

When he got his breath back he looked at the grayish blue haired woman who had stood between him and the attack. All that pain could have really happened to him. Naruto couldn't help but feel grateful to her. Even if she was a demon fox. "Uh...thanks Ryoko," he managed to stammer out.

A very pleased look appeared on the _Kyuubi no Kitsune's_ face at the sincerity with which Naruto was thanking her. She could feel it and the thought sent a pleasant sensation throughout her knowing he truly felt grateful to her. "My pleasure, Naruto." Then the smile turned slightly malicious as she brought up the young ninja's previous words to her. "Now what was it you were saying about not needing my help back at the Hokage's office, Naruto-kun?"

Seeing Naruto at a loss for words, she gave a little laugh and then faded back away. '_Someday soon, Naruto-kun, you'll admit how much you need me_,' her voice echoed in his mind.

"Okay, come on," Sasuke yelled back towards them. "We're nearly halfway through!"

A cold, masculine voice interrupted them. "Oh, I don't think so, Uchiha." The voice was that of the examiner from Suna, who had just suddenly appeared in the middle of the obstacle course in a swirl of sand. "You have failed to complete the task and will need to do it over again." Then he pointed back to where Sakura was collapsing from her numerous wounds. "Your teammate does not seem to have a magic eye or have a woman protector to keep her from getting injured like the two of you do. That's quite a few more than just two wounds." The man then eyed Naruto, leaking killer intent towards him, a look that the young _genin_ met with a glare of his own before hurrying back for his teammate. "And this one should have ended up the same way."

Sasuke and Naruto were quickly by Sakura's side. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan? I didn't mean for you to get hurt like that!" Naruto cried out. "Someone get a medical ninja over here!"

"No," the cold voice of the examiner commanded. "Unless you want to forfeit this challenge and fail the exams," he said gruffly. "No ninja can receive medical help from their village _or_ the proctors until after a challenge is over. Doing so immediately disqualifies the entire team from the Chuunin Exams selection process."

"He's right, Naruto," Sasuke said with a grimace.

"But…Sakura!" Naruto looked at the examiner with wild eyes and then back to his teammate. The pink haired _kunoichi_ had a look of pain on her face. The red outfit that she wore for her missions was full of rips and tears, blood leaking profusely from several wounds on her legs. Her eyes were streaked with her tears, though to her credit she was not crying out loud.

The examiner gave a snort. "She's not in any danger, kid, but you'll have to wait until she recovers to try to attempt the course again. No way she can make it as she is." The Suna _jounin_ pointed towards a recovery area. "Your team can sit it out over there until she's recovered enough to try it again."

The Suna ninja paused for a minute before turning back towards Naruto and Sasuke. "That is, if you're _allowed_ to continue. I'm going to see to it your squad disqualified for cheating."

"What?!" Sasuke yelled. "You can't!" Sasuke and Naruto were helping Sakura hobble over to the recovery area while arguing with the Suna ninja, but at this they both turned their attention back to the examiner.

"Oh, I most certainly can," the Suna ninja replied in a casual voice. "Getting outside help is strictly forbidden, and your teammate there definitely received some outside help!" The last phrase was spoken loudly so that all could hear it as the Suna _jounin_ pointed towards Naruto.

"What's going on here?" the examiner from the Leaf village asked, appearing in a swirl of leaves.

"This team should be disqualified for cheating. During their exercise a fourth person intervened, preventing this one from getting hit," the examiner from Suna said pointing to Naruto.

"If that is true—" the Konoha examiner began before he was quickly cut off.

"It is not," called out an authoritative voice. The examiners and Team 7 turned to see a rapidly approaching group of people. At their head was the First Princess of Jurai, flanked by her two wooden bodyguards. Trailing behind them was a small contingent of ANBU. When Ayeka reached the group a few seconds later, she turned her attention towards Naruto and gave him a small bow.

"What is this?" the examiner from Suna asked, his gruff voice taking on an angry tone. "What does Jurai have to do with any of this?"

"I happen to have been observing the progress of this team as part of my _diplomatic_ duties," Ayeka said stressing the importance of her position. "And I can say positively that at no time did Lord Naruto nor any other member of his team call upon or receive outside assistance."

The _jounin_ from the Village Hidden in the Sand looked murderous. "You lying—"

Azaka and Kamidake quickly interposed themselves between the ninja and the princess, electricity crackling around their blocky wooden forms menacingly. "YOU WILL NOT INSULT THE PRINCESS. AN ASSAULT UPON HER PERSON WILL BE MET WITH DEADLY FORCE." Their warning voices projected loudly in unison.

"Azaka, Kamidake, stand down," Ayeka calmly ordered. "This man's insult will be overlooked this time," she said primly, "as his error is understandable. He believes I am not speaking the truth and feels his own honor is being insulted." Ayeka turned to the Konoha examiner. "It is true that Lord Naruto was defended from the attack by other than his own teammates. But, as I said, at no time did any of them receive any _outside_ assistance."

The Suna _jounin's_ anger quickly faded and was replaced by a perplexed look. "What do you mean? I saw that woman—"

"What you saw was no woman," Ayeka said, her voice full of irony. "What you saw was a demon. A demon bound by the power of Lord Naruto. If you would Naruto, please summon…Ryoko."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and performed the summoning technique, though without the use of a blood sacrifice as was typically required. Instantly, the Nine-Tailed fox appeared directly in front of the Suna ninja, compelled to appear by the power of the seal.

"Nameless ninja not important enough for me to ask the name of, meet the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_, Ryoko. Ryoko, meet some ninja or other from Suna who is causing some trouble for Naruto," Ayeka said almost conversationally.

"Hi there," Ryoko said with a sardonic smile right in the man's face. The ninja took a rapid step back. "The Village Hidden in the Sand, huh? Been a long, long time since I was there last." She gave a very predatory grin in the man's direction. "How's my older brother, Shukaku, doing?" The Suna ninja visibly paled. "Still as insane as ever, eh?"

Ayeka smiled as she gestured towards Ryoko. "As you can see, the Demon Fox is bound to Naruto, and hence, is a tool at his disposal as any of the creatures commanded by ninja are."

"**Who are you calling a tool?!**" an incensed Ryoko yelled, whirling to face the princess. Ryoko's face was a heated red, her mouth twisted into a snarl and her hand clenched in a fist. The ninja from Suna and the Konoha examiner backed away from the dangerous woman, feeling her power suddenly increasing.

"You," Ayeka said flatly, turning her chin up, not backing down an inch from the incensed demon fox. "As far as this challenge is concerned, your power is Lord Naruto's to command." The princess pointedly turned her hair away from Ryoko to look at the examiners, her long flowing purple hair whipping around in front of the incensed fox.

"Nobody commands me, princess! And I will show you—"

"Ryoko, stop," Naruto quickly interceded. The Nine Tailed Fox, two red tails swishing behind her, stopped her fist mid-swing. She gritted her teeth as she turned her head around to face the orange-clad ninja. Then anger slowly melted away from her expression, eyes that had begun to glow red fading to their normal yellow hue.

"Only for you, Naruto," Ryoko said in a low growl, throwing a final glare Ayeka's way before fading back away. "But next time that princess is gonna get what's coming to her," she let the threat hang as her form completely vanished.

Ayeka crossed her arms with a haughty smirk on her face. "I think I have demonstrated my point."

"Fine then," the examiner from Suna relented with a grumble. "It won't matter anyway. With Pinky here injured, this team will fall so far behind they'll be eliminated quickly, if they can even pass this first task at all!" The man's face lit up with a vengeful glee. "Konoha's precious last little Uchiha brat will be a failure."

The Konoha _chuunin_ examiner and Ayeka looked at the Suna examiner reproachfully, but he ignored their looks. He even chuckled maliciously, his hands placed on his hips as he mocked them. Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, his hands gripping his kunai tightly. He looked ready to—

"Hey, what do you have against Sasuke, anyway?" Naruto demanded, his fists clenched in anger as he stepped right into the veteran ninja's face. "I thought we were supposed to be allies!"

"Allies?" the _jounin_ scoffed. "With Konoha?" The man spat on the ground. "Sure Sunagakure signed the Allied Shinobi Treaty like all the other major ninja villages, and we were on the same side against Iwa all those years ago, but don't think we are all friends here, kid." The Suna ninja glared harshly at Naruto. "One of these days we'll be back at war again and then every village will be for themselves. And I will throw a party when Konoha burns to the ground.

"And the Uchiha? My problem with him is that he's an arrogant, heartless Uchiha. They're all heartless killers who think they're better than everyone else!" The venom in the man's voice set Naruto back a step. Sasuke however, was bristling in fury.

"What did you say about my family?" he asked coldly.

"What do you mean? What makes you say that?" Naruto asked accusatively.

"Who are you to demand anything of me brat? But you really want to know? I'll tell you." The man took a breath. "My father was in a squad fighting against Iwa invaders along our northwest border together with some of our Konoha 'allies' and he was paired up with someone from _your_ village to scout ahead. Kenichi Uchiha. And it was the arrogance of the Uchiha that got most of my father's team killed in an ambush. He told my father that nothing could escape his eyes. Well, he was wrong.

"My father survived, but he lost a hand in the fight and nearly bled to death. I remember it like it was yesterday, the Uchiha bringing my father to back to the city gates after the mission, dropping him outside the city like he was discarded rubbish. I was waiting there with my brother. He looked at me with those cursed red eyes of theirs and told me that my father was too slow. TOO SLOW! And then that Uchiha creep turned his back on me and my father and walked back out as if we didn't matter. My father told me he was going back for another mission and the creep didn't even take the time to get my father to a hospital because it was just too far into the city." The Suna ninja was visibly shaking at this point. "So, you tell me, do you think I should care for any Uchiha?"

Sasuke and Naruto stood together silently for a minute, not sure what to say as the Suna ninja glared daggers at them. And then Naruto lifted his head.

"You know, I can't understand how you feel," he said quietly. "I never knew my father, so I can't say how I would feel if someone did that to my dad. But I do know what it feels like for someone to hate you because of what someone else did. So I think I know what _Sasuke _feels right now." Naruto paused before continuing, the others nearby going quiet as they could tell this was coming from the excitable ninja's heart. "At first I didn't know why everyone hated me. I only found out about the Nine Tails not long ago. But I could feel all the anger and all the coldness for as long as I remember. And that's not a feeling anyone should have to feel, no matter who their family is.

"And maybe Sasuke is a jerk. And maybe he is stuck up and thinks he's better than everyone else. But he's still my teammate. And he's my friend. So I'm gonna stand by him and I'm not gonna let you or anyone else look at him with hateful eyes like that. Not when he didn't do anything to earn it." Sasuke Uchiha looked at his teammate, eyes wide, as if he'd never seen him before. Ayeka's eyes began to tear up. Even the ninja from the Village Hidden in the Sand reflected on what the young man before him was saying, mulling it over.

"I may be too young to know what you've been through, but from what I've seen of this shinobi world, there's already enough hate in it from what people have done to each other that we don't need to add to it for what people haven't done." Then a fox-like grin spread over Naruto's face as he thumped his own chest with his thumb. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a _genin_ of the Leaf Village, and I'm going to be Hokage one day. I don't quit and I don't go back on my word."

"So, I don't care if you're a _jounin_. I don't care if you're our examiner. We're gonna go back in there and beat that course! Believe it!" And then Naruto turned and headed back towards the obstacle course, determination in every step.

It was then that Ayeka's voice, very quiet, called out to him. "Um, Naruto? Your teammate, Sakura, is still too hurt to go on…" She let the sentence hang for a moment.

"Oh, right! Sakura-chan!" Naruto did a quick 180° turn and sprinted back to his team with a concerned look on his face. "Um, are you alright?"

"Naruto! You _baka_!" Sakura complained with a grimace.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto apologized. "I got a little overexcited there for a minute, hehe. But we'll get you healed up and get through that course together in no time! Believe it!"

The Konoha _chuunin_ looked uncomfortable, speaking with a touch of reluctance, "I'm sorry, but the other examiner was right. The exam proctors and observers are not allowed to interfere in the exam process. That includes providing healing. To do so would disqualify you." The Konoha examiner spread his hands out apologetically. "Either you continue as best you can with her wounded, or you forfeit and we can see she gets immediate treatment."

"Perhaps I could try to…" Princess Ayeka began before quickly before being cut off.

"Sorry, but you are an observer here. If they accepted any help from you it would mean their disqualification," the Leaf nin explained apologetically.

A new voice suddenly broke in. "But if she were healed by someone on another participating team that would be within the rules."

Everyone turned to see a familiar smiling silver-haired _genin_ standing a few feet away with Shino and Hinata beside him. Kabuto adjusted his glasses and then addressed the proctor, "We're forbidden from attacking another team within the boundaries of the task, but helping another team is not against any rule, is it?"

The Leaf _chuunin_ examiner looked back at Kabuto in surprise. "That's true, but you're not here as comrades. You should know that better than any other _genin_, here, Kabuto."

Shino frowned from within is coat, his voice quiet and even. "I don't understand why you would offer to help here, Kabuto. This time there is nothing we can get out of it."

"Think of it as putting the needs of the village above our own ambition for promotion," the silver-haired _genin_ said as he adjusted his glasses. "Team 7 is probably the strongest of the rookie teams and they have a good chance of doing well if they don't get held up here. And I'm sure that later on down the line when they're all big important shinobi in the village that they'll remember this moment and who helped them out."

Shino frowned. "I won't try and tell you no, but I don't really like this."

Kabuto smiled. "So, that's me for helping, Shino abstains," then he looked over at Hinata. "And I think I can safely tell what Hinata's vote will be on the issue of helping out Naruto's team without having to ask her."

The lavender haired kunoichi bowed her head shyly.

"You are skilled enough to do this?" Sasuke asked with a touch of doubt in his voice.

"Your teammate's injuries are not very severe, most of the injuries are superficial. It seems they are using low tensile strength needles and blunted shuriken to make sure nobody is injured too badly. I do help out around Konoha hospital a little and have a modest talent with medical _ninjutsu_," he said with just the tiniest hints of a smirk.

"Actually, Kabuto is one of the best young med-nins in the village," Sakura said. "He's always modest, but I've seen him working while I was there with Tsunade-sensei. He's really talented. Much better at it than I am, that's for sure."

Sasuke nodded, accepting Sakura's assurance.

"Okay, then, I'll heal her up. On one condition," the glasses wearing ninja said with a smile.

Team 7 looked at Kabuto suspiciously.

"My team gets to start on the obstacle course before you do," he said with a smile.

At that, Naruto smiled in return. "Of course! I guess you are alright after all!"

With broad smile, Kabuto knelt down beside Sakura and ran his hands over her wounds as a green glow surrounded his hands.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk smoking on his pipe as he heard the report from his former student. "So, someone is impersonating one of our young medical ninja during the Chuunin Exams. One of our <em>genin<em> who was killed recently," he said thoughtfully. "But we have no idea why, or who they are working for. Or even what their intentions are." He took another puff on his pipe while Tsunade stood there in front of his desk.

The Hokage turned his head to the left, his eyes locking on one of the hidden ANBU in his office. The black cloaked and hooded ninja was kneeling before the leader of the village in an instant. "Bear. Summon Ibiki to me immediately." With a nod the ninja vanished.

A sudden movement at the window to his office caught the Hokage's attention. He turned his head to see the long, flowing white hair of one of his other former students. This exceptionally tall ninja was dressed in a standard olive ninja outfit, but with a bright red, sleeveless vest worn open at the front over top, a large pair of _geta_ on his feet, and twin red lines drawn vertically down his face from the bottom of his eyes. Those eyes now bore a very serious look on them.

"I think I know who is behind this," Jiraiya said as he slipped into the office and walked over towards the Hokage's desk. "And if I'm right, he is the one who is impersonating that poor _genin_. The one I've had my spy network trying to discover for years."

"You mean, it's... him?"

"Yes. Him."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "I will handle this, personally."

Jiraiya shook his head. "That may be exactly what he wants. I will go," he said with a fierce look in his eyes. "I want to face this bastard as much as you do."

After a moment of hesitation, Hiruzen nodded.

Jiraiya leapt back up to the window ledge. He gave a soulful look back to his old teammate. "Tsunade-hime, look after sensei. I wouldn't put it past our enemy to try to assassinate the Hokage as a diversion."

And then the Toad Sage leapt off the window sill to make his way back out of the village once again. He only hoped he could arrive in time.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto Muyo!<em>

* * *

><p>Team 7 stood together at the start of the obstacle course with a determined look on their faces. Naruto, dressed in his orange jumpsuit, peered ahead towards the course. Sakura, freshly healed, pulled on the pair of tight leather gloves she had been given by Tsunade, adding a serious element to the otherwise colorful cherry red outfit she typically wore on missions. Sasuke, always serious, checked his pouches for the stored ninja stars, making sure everything was secure.<p>

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto enthused. "This time no way we're going to get stopped!"

"Hold on, Naruto!" Sakura scolded. "Don't be an idiot like last time. Just let Sasuke lead."

Naruto pouted, but before he could protest, Sasuke was already speaking. "Sakura, Naruto wasn't the one who held us up last time."

Sakura looked down in shame. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke, this time, though, I swear…"

"It was me," Sasuke interrupted, to both of his teammates' shock. "I let my pride get in the way and tried to do it all on my own. Not only that, but we just rushed into things without a plan. We should have scouted ahead and seen what the dangers were instead of charging ahead and fighting over targets. But that's not happening this time. This time, we're doing this as a team."

Sakura and Naruto both nodded agreement.

"We'll start with you, Sakura. You were the best in the Academy at analyzing and solving problems. Not just the best _kunoichi_, but the best in the class." Sasuke looked at the female ninja intently, making it clear that he was taking her opinion seriously. "So, tell us what you saw."

Sakura got a proud look on her face. "Right! Well, first off, we already know that there are pressure sensors on the logs and platforms. Too much force in one place will set off a trap fired from the periphery just ahead of where the pressure point is placed. And when we hit a target with shuriken, it sets off a counter-attack back in the direction it was struck from. So, of course we have to deal with those challenges.

"What I noticed as I followed you guys was that whenever one of you followed right behind the other, the traps only fired at the first person. There's a delay of two to three seconds after a trap is triggered and before it can fire again. If we time it right, the first person can get past the trap fast enough that the weapons will all miss; the second person can run through two seconds behind them, after the _senbon_ and shuriken have been fired."

"Good idea, Sakura," Sasuke complimented her with Naruto nodding his agreement.

The pink clad ninja continued. "As for the targets, they are set up to fire back right at where the thrower attacked from. Obviously, the one throwing the star will see the attack coming and dodge out of the way. The real danger is to the ones directly behind the one who hits the target. If we space out our approach so that none of us are right behind each other when we aim for a target it will be easy."

"Yeah, but what about if all the traps fire at once at us like last time?" Naruto asked.

"Well," Sakura said thoughtfully, "that only happened when you and Sasuke hit too many targets at a time. There were so many throwing stars and needles that they were colliding in the air and falling onto the pressure plates along the course, setting off those traps as well. If we avoid hitting too many at a time that won't happen again."

"Alright," Sasuke said. "We'll each take a separate path, staggered behind each other. Naruto," he looked directly at his teammate, "you'll lead the way."

"Naruto?" Sakura asked. "Are you sure, Sasuke? I mean, you are better at hitting targets than Naruto."

"She's right," Naruto admitted. "You are better at throwing shuriken than I am," Naruto admitted grudgingly, getting into the spirit of teamwork

"That's why I'll take the middle route," Sasuke said with a smile. "But you'll lead all three of us. With your shadow clones. You'll keep clones running just ahead of us so that we can concentrate on hitting targets. I'll be able to hit most of them from the center path, but you and Sakura will get the ones out of my range on either side. That way we won't have to worry about setting off the traps on the course."

"Hey! Why don't I just send shadow clones through first and let them hit all of the targets first? Then we can just run through after all the targets are taken out!"

Sasuke shook his head. "That's a good idea Naruto. But unfortunately, it won't work. According to the examiner, we only hit eight targets last time."

"What? I know I hit more than that!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke nodded. "So did I. But according to the results, only eight counted. And I think I know why." Sasuke held up one of the throwing stars. "These stars are all marked with a _fuuinjutsu_ seal. The target only registers that it is hit if it is hit with a weapon carrying this seal. But when you used shadow clones and I used the shadow shuriken technique, none of the cloned shuriken counted as if they had hit the target. However this works, duplicated shuriken don't duplicate the seal correctly."

"Oh, I got it!" Naruto said. "So we have to only use real shuriken to hit the targets."

"Right. But your clones can still set off the traps ahead of us."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, let's go then," Sasuke said.

"Good luck!" Ayeka's voice called out from behind them where she stood with her Juraiyan guards.

Naruto gave her a wave then put his hands together into the cross sign. "_Kage bunshin no jutsu!_" A half dozen copies of Naruto appeared and prepared to lead the way. "Alright guys, make sure you go fast enough that you don't get hit by anything."

"Right boss!"

And then Team 7 jumped into action on the obstacle course for the second time. Sasuke took the path in the center while following behind Naruto's clones, while the original Naruto and Sakura each jumped on the logs to either side of Sasuke, following behind in a staggered order. With the clones triggering the traps ahead of the team they were able to make quick time without danger of being struck. And with Sasuke aware of his teammate's positions, he only attacked a target when neither of them were in the path of the _senbon_ counter-attack.

It was all going well, only two of Naruto's clones had been dispelled.

And then Sakura tripped on a shuriken that had lodged in the log she was on after Narutos clones had passed by.

When she fell, she set off several traps simultaneously. Several dozen _senbon_, shuriken, and darts all converged on her prone form. There was on way she would be able to dodge in time.

And then several dozen Narutos jumped between her and the oncoming attacks. Two of the clones managed to form an energy sword and use it to knock away the needles. The others failed to get the technique to work, but still managed to block the attacks. With their bodies.

"Thanks, Naruto!" Sakura called out to her teammate.

After that, Team 7 had no problem completing the course. When they got to the other side the examiner was waiting for them. The ninja from Suna inspected them, making sure that none of them were struck more than once. Seeing there wasn't a single scratch on them, he nodded.

"Alright, you have completed the course. I will give you directions to get you to the next checkpoint. You are the 7th team to complete this task."

"Did any team manage to pass on their first attempt?" Sasuke asked neutrally as he received an envelope from the examiner with the instructions for getting to the next roadblock.

"So far, only two teams have managed that. One team from Suna and one from Konoha," the proctor acknowledged. "But I'll admit, I was impressed by you brats. Even you, Uchiha. I heard you talking to your team. Maybe you aren't like the rest of your clan."

Sasuke Uchiha looked at the Suna ninja for a moment, and then gave a polite nod.

"Hmm, make that three that made it through on their first attempt," the examiner said as he noticed another team in the distance. "Your friends from earlier just made it through as well. Not quite as fast, but they did get it on their first try."

Kabuto waved to them from the distance, a cunning smile on his face.


End file.
